Court Upholds DHCR's Deregulation of Tenant's Apartment

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's rent-stabilized apartment. The DHCR ruled for landlord, finding that tenant's apartment was to be deregulated at the end of her current lease. Tenant then filed an Article 78 court appeal. Tenant argued that the DHCR's decision was arbitrary and unreasonable.

The court ruled against tenant, finding that the DHCR's decision was based on the determination of the State Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) that tenant's relevant household income was more than $200,000 in each of two subject tax years. Tenant then sought renewal of her appeal. She claimed that the DHCR mistakenly relied on a tax document that incorrectly listed her federal adjusted gross income above the $200,000 threshold. Tenant produced a letter from the DOF showing that in her 2014 amended tax return, her federal adjusted income was below $200,000. Tenant's attorney argued that he showed this information to the DHCR and to landlord's counsel but thatthe  DHCR never responded to his request to reconsider.

The court ruled against tenant, finding that she failed to present any new facts that would warrant acceptance of her request to renew her appeal. The DHCR's decision was consistent with other case law concerning the DHCR's reliance on DTF income verification.

Zucker v. DHCR: Index No. 152416/2019, 2020 NY Slip Op 31244(U)(Sup. Ct. NY; 5/8/20; Perry, J)