HPD, Not DHCR, Must Rule on HDFC Tenant's Rent and Lease Issues

Tenant complained to the DHCR that landlord failed to offer him a renewal lease on the same terms and conditions as his expiring lease, and had taken away a utility credit that was part of tenant's original lease term. The DRA dismissed the complaint, finding that the building wasn't subject to DHCR jurisdiction. The building was owned by a housing development fund corporation (HDFC) and was subject to a Regulatory Agreement.

Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant's apartment was part of the Gotham West Apartments Project, a complex of four buildings containing mixed-moderate, low-income, and other affordable housing units. The collectible and legal regulated rents for all apartments in the complex were set under a series of regulatory agreements between landlord and the NY State Housing Finance Agency and HPD. Tenant's initial rent was based on tenant's income and whether tenant qualified for a "utility allowance" determined by HPD and revised annually.

Tenant's rent therefore was governed by HPD under the Regulatory Agreement and wasn't subject to DHCR's authority. The fact that landlord filed annual registrations with the DHCR and gave tenants rent-stabilized leases, as required by the Regulatory Agreement, didn't give the DHCR jurisdiction over tenant's rent and utility credit. 

Rosemarin: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. IT410008RT (10/13/20) [2-pg. doc.]