Landlord Can Eliminate Fireplace Services for a $5 Monthly Rent Reduction

Landlord, which had purchased six rent-stabilized apartments in a condominium building, asked the DHCR for permission to eliminate fireplace services in these apartments. Landlord claimed that, prior to buying the apartments, the ability to operate the fireplaces in each unit had been eliminated. Landlord also said that the fireplaces couldn't be restored to service. The DRA ruled for landlord and reduced each tenant's rent by $5 per month.

Tenants appealed and lost. Tenants claimed that the landlord didn't prove the fireplaces were inoperable, failed to state why they didn't work, and that the order should be revoked. Alternatively, tenants argued that the permanent rent reductions should be increased. But landlord did submit proof that, before it bought the units, a penthouse floor was added to the building and the fireplaces were no longer operational from that point forward. Tenants admitted this in their initial opposition before the DRA. There was no requirement that landlord provide substitute fireplaces. And it was the DHCR's policy to grant a $5 monthly rent increase when fireplace services were eliminated. 

Liebman et al.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. HX430013RT (2/8/22)[2-pg. document]