Landlord Can Switch from Electrical Inclusion to Exclusion from Rent

Landlord asked the DHCR for permission to convert from rent inclusion to rent exclusion of electricity by installing individual meters in various apartments. The DRA ruled for landlord on condition that landlord wire the fans in each apartment for the building's HVAC system so that the electricity for the fans was charged to landlord's account rather than tenants' accounts.

Tenants appealed and lost. They claimed that isolating the portion of electricity usage for the fans wasn't possible and could require gutting individual apartments. Tenants also argued that the rent reduction resulting from the service change was inadequate to compensate for electric charges.  But the submetering involved in this conversion was subject to a schedule of rent reductions set down in DHCR Operational Bulletin 2003-1 and its updates. These rent reductions were derived from data compiled by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board, HPD, and the U.S. Census Bureau. If the owner operated the submetering system in a way that caused tenants to pay for energy costs associated with the fans that heated or cooled the HVAC system, tenants could file rent overcharge complaints.

Various Tenants of 315 W. 57th Street and 330 West 58th Street: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. BO410030RT (4/25/19) [4-pg. doc.]