Building Separated from Horizontal Multiple Dwelling

Facts: Landlord bought a five-unit apartment building in 1981. Before 1979, the building had been part of a horizontal multiple dwelling, and tenants were subject to rent regulation. The building was then altered so that there were no longer any common services. A prior court had ruled that tenants who were in the building before separation from the horizontal multiple dwelling remained rent stabilized. Tenant moved into landlord's building in 1993. Landlord claimed that tenant wasn't rent stabilized because he moved in after the building was separated from the horizontal multiple dwelling, and the building now contained fewer than six apartments. The DHCR ruled against landlord, and landlord appealed. Court: Landlord loses. Separating common ownership and services after the base date doesn't exempt an apartment in a former horizontal multiple dwelling from rent stabilization coverage under the ETPA. Although the ETPA doesn't apply to housing accommodations in buildings containing fewer than six dwelling units, the Rent Stabilization Code provision, setting June 30, 1974, as the base date for determining the existence of a horizontal multiple dwelling and providing protection to tenants who move into such a building after a subsequent separation, isn't inconsistent with the ETPA.

Buhagiar v. DHCR: NYLJ, p. 27, col. 2 (11/3/99) (Sup. Ct. NY; Lehner, J)