Building Isn't Horizontal Multiple Dwelling

Tenant complained to the DHCR of a lease violation and rent overcharge after landlord advised tenant that the building wasn’t rent stabilized and no renewal lease would be offered. Landlord claimed that the building was an unregulated two-family dwelling. Tenant claimed that the building was connected to another building and therefore was part of a horizontal multiple dwelling. The DRA ruled for tenant after a hearing.

Landlord appealed and won. The DRA gave undue weight to the fact that the buildings had the same owner, common boiler, single water and gas mains, centrally located mailboxes, and a common lighting system. The buildings had separate foundations, no common walls, roofs, basements, or chimneys. The buildings also had separate entrances and fire escapes. The rear building tenant lived in was built in 1901, the front building in 1906. The buildings were configured differently. The front building was a seven-unit tenement. The water, gas, and electric meters were separate. HPD also considered only the front building to be a multiple dwelling. The separate building systems outweighed the common ones, and tenant’s building wasn’t an HMD. 

Musovic: DHCR Adm Rev. Docket No. AX610002RP (3/4/15) [7-pg. doc.]