DHCR Must Issue New Rent Reduction Schedule

Landlord asked the DHCR for permission to convert the building from master metering to individual electric metering. The DRA ruled for landlord in 2005 and ordered rent reductions for tenants. Tenants appealed and lost. Tenants then filed a court appeal, claiming that the DHCR's decision was unreasonable. Landlord still hadn't completed the electrical conversion, and tenants claimed that the rent reductions ordered were inadequate. The court ruled for tenants. The DRA calculated rent reductions for tenants accurately, using the schedule contained in the agency's Operational Bulletin 2003-1. This bulletin, using 2002 census data on the median monthly cost of electricity to tenants in 2002, called for a $40 rent reduction for one- and two-bedroom apartments, with an additional $5 reduction for each additional room. But the Rent Stabilization Code required the DHCR to update its operational bulletin every five years, and the DHCR hadn't done so. The DHCR's failure to comply with its own rules and procedures was arbitrary. So the court revoked the DHCR's rent reduction orders and ordered the DHCR to issue a new rent reduction schedule.

Hall v. Van Amerongen: NYLJ, 12/31/08, p. 29, col. 1 (Sup. Ct. Kings; Solomon, J)