Court-Ordered Rent Abatement Was for Different Conditions

Tenant complained of a reduction in services. The DRA ruled for tenant and reduced his rent. Landlord appealed, claiming that tenant already had gotten a rent abatement for the same conditions in a housing court proceeding. The DHCR ruled against landlord. The conditions covered in the housing court case were no water, inoperable stove, destroyed bathroom ceiling, large holes in bathroom and bedroom walls, destroyed apartment door/lock, and that landlord's workers entered the apartment without permission and drilled holes in the walls. In the DHCR proceeding, the issues were a defective kitchen cabinet, leaky kitchen faucet, broken bathroom wall tiles, vermin control, bathroom faucet plumbing problems, door frame misalignment, and a broken apartment entrance door. Most of the conditions covered in the two cases were different, so the DHCR rent reduction was proper.

160 West 141st Street: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. YJ410001RO (2/11/11) [3-pg. doc.]