DHCR Denies 2020-21 MBR Increases

Landlord sought maximum base rent (MBR) rent increases for rent-controlled apartments in its building for the 2020-21 cycle. On June 10, 2019, landlord commenced the proceeding by filing a violation certification (VC), stating that it would clear within 30 days all rent-impairing violations and at least 80 percent of non-rent-impairing violations from HPD's database. In December 2019, the DRA asked landlord for proof that two violations were abated. In July 2020, the DRA denied landlord's 2020-21 MBR application because landlord failed to meet the violation criteria. Landlord filed a timely challenge to the DRA's order, claiming that it had submitted proof that the violations were corrected and that it was awaiting HPD dismissal. The DRA denied landlord's challenge, again finding that landlord failed to meet the violation certification requirements in order to qualify for the current MBR increases.

Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord's certification that the one rent-impairing violation and various non-rent-impairing violations would be removed within 30 days of June 10, 2019, wasn't substantiated. The submitted contractor affidavits were insufficient to clear the violations given the record evidence from HPD. A status notation of the violations on HPD's website indicated only that landlord's violation correction certification hadn't been accepted and that the violation remained open. And tenants couldn't certify correction of building-wide violations outside their apartments.

Lozynskyj: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. IX420035RO (7/7/21)[3-pg. document]