DHCR Orders Rent Registration of Apartments Despite Landlord's Claim Building Was a Co-op

The DHCR's DRA initiated a proceeding in 2019 after finding that landlord failed to register its building as rent stabilized for 2018 although Dept. of Finance (DOF) records show that the building received J-51 tax benefits between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018. The DRA notified landlord that it must register the building. Landlord failed to respond, and the DRA ordered landlord in 2020 to register the building and all individual apartments as rent stabilized for 2018. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that the building was owned by shareholders under a housing development fund corporation. But there was no documentary evidence supporting landlord's claim. There was no proof that any of the building's individual apartments had been sold in accordance with applicable regulations. So, there was no proof to support a claim that the building was operated as an HDFC and therefore exempt from rent regulation. 

7 Second Avenue, HDFC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. IO410033RO (2/23/23)[2-pg. document]