DHCR Grants Rent Hike Despite Missing 1984-85 MBR Order

Tenant’s daughter claimed pass-on rights to tenant’s rent-controlled apartment and asked the DHCR to rule on this question after tenant died in 2008. Landlord agreed that the daughter had pass-on rights, but appealed the DRA’s decision. Landlord claimed that the DRA failed to include a 1984-1985 MBR increase in its determination of the daughter’s rent. The DHCR ruled for landlord. The DHCR’s rent control records didn’t include the 1984-1985 MBR increase. But otherwise landlord was granted an MBR increase for every MBR cycle from 1972 to 2008. In 1984, the DHCR took over supervision of the rent control system from the former New York City Office of Rent Control. Records weren’t automated until 1986, and the DHCR’s paper copy may have been lost or destroyed. The DHCR recomputed the MBR, and tenant’s maximum collectible rent was $675 per month.

3065 Roberts Avenue: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. XD620039RO (5/21/09) [9-pg. doc.]