Apartment Vacant on Base Date, Then Deregulated

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. Her initial rent in June 2004 was $2,000 per month. Landlord claimed that tenant wasn’t rent stabilized. The DRA ruled for landlord and dismissed tenant’s complaint. Tenant appealed and lost. The former building super lived in the apartment before tenant moved in. Tenant claimed that the super was no longer employed by landlord effective July 2002 and that landlord waived rent from the super for the remainder of his occupancy. So landlord couldn’t claim the apartment was temporarily exempt on the base date, and landlord never registered the apartment as vacant. Landlord also didn’t file an exit registration until almost five years after tenant moved in and after tenant filed the overcharge complaint. Landlord claimed that the apartment remained temporarily exempt until the super was evicted on April 29, 2004, and the super never became a tenant. The DHCR noted that the apartment was vacant on the May 29, 2004, base date, four years before tenant filed her complaint. For this reason, the first rent agreed to by landlord and tenant following the base date was the legal regulated rent. The DHCR couldn’t review any prior rent history, and the apartment was deregulated.

Kahng: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. XF410031RT (12/30/09) [3-pg. doc.]