Exit Registration Not Required to Deregulate Apartment

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled against tenant, finding that the base date rent was more than $2,000 per month. Tenant appealed and lost. Under Rent Stabilization Code Section 2526.1(a)(3)(iii), if an apartment is vacant or temporarily exempt on the base date, the legal regulated rent is the next rent charged after vacancy. Here, on the 2004 base date, four years before tenant filed his complaint, the apartment was rented for commercial purposes and therefore was temporarily exempt from regulation. When the apartment became vacant in 2006, tenant moved in at a monthly rent of $9,700. Since tenant's rent was more than $2,000 per month, he was deregulated by law. It didn't matter that landlord didn't file an exit registration. Registration wasn't required under the Rent Stabilization Code to effectuate deregulation, which occurs by operation of law.

Davis: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. XF410058RT (8/31/09) [3-pg. doc.]