Daughter of Former Rent-Controlled Tenants Gets Rights to Unit Tenants Transferred to

Tenants' daughter filed a lease violation complaint with the DHCR. She had moved into her current apartment with her parents in 2007. Tenant and her father signed a renewal lease for the two-year term between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2016. But landlord then refused to offer a renewal lease. Landlord claimed that the tenant parents had voluntarily entered into an agreement to change apartments in 2007 and that the new apartment wasn't rent controlled. Tenant replied that she and her parents moved from the rent-controlled unit to the new apartment on Oct. 1, 2007, pursuant to an agreement with landlord and an initial lease. The agreement stated that the parent tenants were moving from a rent-controlled unit into a free-market apartment in exchange for a $4,300 cash payment and a guaranteed monthly rent of $541 for their entire tenancy. The daughter now argued that her parents' rent-controlled status should carry over from their previous apartment and that she had succession rights following the death of her mother in 2014 and her father in 2016. The daughter also claimed that she was disabled, met the one-year co-occupancy requirement for succession, and that tenants' prior agreement with landlord wasn't wholly voluntary. The DRA ruled against the daughter since the apartment wasn't rent stabilized, the tenants had voluntarily moved out of their rent-controlled unit in 2007, and they didn't retain their rent-controlled status. The daughter appealed and lost, then filed an Article 78 court appeal of the DHCR's decision.

The court sent the case back to the DHCR for reconsideration. The DHCR then ruled for the daughter. Both RSC Section 2520.13 and NYC Rent Control regulation Section 2200.15 state that an agreement to waive a tenant's rights under rent regulation is void unless it is based on a negotiated settlement between the parties with the approval of the DHCR or a court or where tenant is represented by an attorney. Since none of those conditions applied here, any supposed waiver of tenants' rights under rent control was void. The DHCR also hadn't previously considered the facts. Landlord benefitted from tenants' apartment transfer, and they became subject to rent stabilization. The daughter had demonstrated succession rights and her base rent was $541 per month.

Martinez: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. KV410003RP (2/8/23)[4-pg. document]