Apartment Was Vacancy Decontrolled

Facts: Tenant claimed that she was rent controlled. She said that her husband moved into the apartment in 1971, that she moved into the apartment with her children in 1972, that her husband died in 1975, and that she had continued to live in the apartment since then. After a hearing, the DRA ruled for tenant and found that the apartment was rent controlled because tenant or her husband had moved into the apartment before June 30, 1971. Landlord appealed. It had bought the building in 1996 and knew only that the initial 1984 rent registration listed the apartment as rent stabilized. Landlord claimed that there was insufficient proof of tenant's occupancy before June 30, 1971. The DHCR ruled for landlord. The school records that tenant submitted for her children were for periods after 1971. The statements from other people weren't supported by documents and were made 27 years after tenant supposedly moved in. So they weren't reliable.

Vaz Realty LLC: DHCR Admin. Rev. Dckt. No. PF120027RO (3/15/02) [8-pg. doc.]