Elevator Service Restored Shortly After Service Complaint Filed

Tenants complained of a reduction in building-wide services. They claimed that the sole elevator in their six-story building had been out of service for two months immediately before they filed their complaint. Landlord admitted that the there had been an elevator outage while landlord was modernizing the elevator system. Tenants were notified in advance of the work to be done and told tenants that there would be no service for about 12 weeks. Landlord said that elevator service was fully restored as of the day after tenants' complaint was filed and submitted copies of the contractor's sign-off letter. The DRA ruled against tenants. Tenants appealed, claiming that there should be a rent reduction because landlord admitted there was no elevator service for two months. The DHCR again ruled against tenants. Tenants admitted that service was restored the day after the DHCR received their complaint. Since service was restored, there was no reason to grant a rent reduction.

Cumberbatch: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. VH910015RT (11/21/07) [3-pg. doc.]