Landlord Can't Alter Heat Service to Require Tenant Payment

Landlord asked the DHCR for permission to modify required services by installing individual gas-fired units in six apartments so that tenants could control the temperature and pay for their own heat usage. The DRA ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. Two years earlier, the DHCR had denied a similar application by landlord. And Tenant Protection Regulations Section 2500.3 required landlord to maintain heat and hot water service. Changing heat delivery service from central to individual heating systems and transferring the cost of heat or hot water to tenants was prohibited by law. Landlord has to provide heat and hot water at no cost to tenants.

Deraffele: DHCR Adm.Rev. Docket No. ZH910050RO (3/23/12) [2-pg. doc.]