Apartment in Mixed-Use Building Was Subject to Rent Control

Landlord asked the DHCR to determine tenant's rent regulatory status. Landlord claimed that tenant was unregulated. Tenant claimed that he had lived with his parents and that they were rent-controlled tenants, from at least 1964 until they died on or before June 1, 2011.  Tenant submitted various documents, including joint bank statements, W-2 tax forms, school records, driver's licenses, voter registration records, vendor account statements from AT&T, and rent receipts. Landlord claimed that the building was a one- or two-family house that was exempt from rent control because tenants didn't live there before April 1953. Landlord also denied that tenant had lived with his parents before his mother died. The DRA ruled for landlord, finding that tenants moved into the two-family house in 1964, long after the April 1, 1953, decontrol date. Tenant appealed, claiming that the exemption from rent control didn't apply because the building wasn't used exclusively for residential purposes. There was a restaurant on the ground floor, while the second and third floors each contained one apartment. The DHCR found that the building wasn't decontrolled as of 1964, so the case must be sent back for further fact-finding on whether tenant had succession rights.

Alcara: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. AV120060RT (6/13/14) [4-pg. doc.]