Income of Tenant's Live-In Doctor Included in Deregulation Application

In 2007 landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's apartment. Tenant answered the DHCR's notice of landlord's application on time and claimed that her annual household income for both 2005 and 2006 was less than $175,000 annually. But the DRA ruled for landlord, finding that tenant's income was above the deregulation threshold. Tenant appealed and lost. DTF tax-match information showed that tenant's husband lived in the apartment in 2005 and died that year. During 2005 and 2006, tenant's doctor also lived in the apartment with her. The total household income based on all occupants therefore was more than $175,000 for each year in question. Tenant claimed that she was the sole legal tenant. She said that her doctor occupied the apartment solely as her primary care physician because she was an invalid and had serious, life-threatening medical ailments. He was in the apartment only to provide medical care and therefore shouldn't be included in determining the household income. The DHCR disagreed. The only issue was whether the doctor lived in the apartment as his primary residence. Tenant didn't claim that the doctor had another address, and he was in fact her son. Tenant's apartment was his legal residence during 2005 and 2006, and the apartment was properly deregulated.

920 Park Avenue: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. WL410025RT (5/29/09) [4-pg. doc.]