DHCR Properly Considered Husband's Income

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's rent-stabilized apartment. The DHCR ruled for landlord based on finding that tenant's household income for each of the prior two years was at least $175,000. Tenant appealed, arguing that her husband's income shouldn't have been included in the calculation of household income because he didn't live in the apartment during the two years before landlord sent her the income certification form. The court and appeals court ruled against tenant. The appeals court had already ruled in a prior case that the DHCR's interpretation of its Operational Bulletin 95-3 was reasonable. The Operational Bulletin states that the date for determining whose income will be included in calculating the total annual income of the apartment occupants is the date when the income certification form is delivered to tenant. The fact that the DHCR's rule permits consideration of a new occupant's income is not a reason for revisiting the question. The DHCR's decision was rational and reasonable.

Doyle v. DHCR: NYLJ, 6/9/08, p. 28, col. 4 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Saxe, JP, Nardelli, Catterson, McGuire, JJ)