Apartment Was Deregulated When Prior Tenant Moved Out

Tenant complained that his apartment was unlawfully deregulated and that landlord overcharge him. The DRA ruled against tenant and dismissed the complaint. Tenant appealed and lost. Landlord showed that in 2011, the last rent-stabilized tenant moved out of the apartment at a legal rent of $1,975. This was documented by a prior DHCR order that denied the rent-stabilized tenant's rent overcharge complaint. Landlord then legally increased the rent by a 20 percent vacancy increase for the next tenant, which resulted in deregulation of the prior tenant.  So the apartment was fully deregulated by the time the complaining tenant moved in. In his PAR, tenant sought to challenge rent increases for individual apartment increases (IAIs) that the DHCR had already ruled on in response to the rent-stabilized tenant's prior complaint. So tenant couldn't challenge the IAIs at this point. The DHCR also found no discrepancies in the rent registration history of the apartment that warranted further investigation.  

Sealey: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. HV210016RT (2/11/20) [3-pg. doc.]