Court, Not DHCR, to Determine Nonprimary Residence Claim

Rent-stabilized tenant complained that landlord refused to renew his lease. The DRA ruled against tenant since landlord had commenced a court proceeding claiming that tenant didn’t live in the apartment as his primary residence. Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant argued that the DHCR should have made its own ruling on whether the apartment was tenant’s primary residence. But Rent Stabilization Code Section 2524.4(c) gives courts, not the DHCR, the authority to rule on the question of a tenant’s primary residence and lists it as grounds for nonrenewal of tenant’s rent-stabilized lease.

Sicuso: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. AN410027RT (8/3/12) [2-pg. doc.]