DHCR Needn't Rule on Whether Landlord Must Rebuild

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of a reduction in services after a fire rendered tenant's apartment uninhabitable. The DRA ruled for tenant and reduced his rent to $1 per month. As long as tenant paid that amount, he was entitled to be restored to the apartment. Landlord appealed and said that the DRA should have specified that landlord was under no obligation to rebuild the building and that the $1 monthly payment entitled tenant to return to the apartment only if it was restored to its original state. Landlord claimed that tenant's right to a new apartment in the building would end upon a post-demolition gut renovation or creation of new apartments. The DHCR ruled against landlord. The tenant's rent was set at $1 per month to maintain the landlord-tenant relationship even though tenant couldn't occupy the apartment in its present condition. While landlord may exercise the option of not erecting another building after the fire, the existing landlord-tenant relationship with tenant didn't expire automatically due to the fire. It was premature for the DHCR to rule on whether tenant had the right to return.

Horizon Realty Corp.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. WF110003RK (9/4/09) [3-pg. doc.]