Apartment Deregulated Despite Preferential Rent of Under $900 per Month

Tenant claimed that his apartment was rent stabilized and complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled against tenant and found that the apartment was permanently exempt because the rent was $2,000 per month. Tenant appealed and lost. Landlord proved that the apartment was owner occupied on the base rent date in September 1999 and had been since 1984. Tenant moved into the apartment in 2002 under a lease with a rent of $2,000 per month. He was the first tenant to live in the apartment after it had been exempt from rent stabilization based on owner occupancy. Tenant's lease had a clause advising tenant that the apartment was unregulated. The fact that landlord charged tenant a preferential rent of $900 for a six-month period, as stated in tenant's lease, didn't make the legal rent less than $2,000 per month.

Kelly: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. SE210053RT (6/24/04) [2-pg. doc.]