High-Rent/High-Income Deregulation Ruling Revoked

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's rent-stabilized apartment in 2016. In response to the Income Certification Form (ICF) served earlier that year, tenant had claimed that her total annual income was less than $200,000 for the relevant years and that she didn't file tax returns for 2014 and 2015 because she wasn't required to do so. The DRA ruled for landlord based on tenant's failure to answer the notice of landlord's LD application.

Tenant appealed and won. Tenant claimed that she had been a patient in a rehabilitation center for the past six months, recovering from a serious injury, and that her Social Security income was well below the deregulation threshold. In a prior LD proceeding for the 2015 filing period, the Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) had already confirmed that tenant's household income was less than $200,000 for the 2014 calendar year. So, the DRA's ruling for the 2016 cycle must be revoked. 

Feldstein: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. GT410006RT (12/9/19) [4-pg. doc.]