Landlord Can't Collect Fuel Cost Adjustment

Rent-controlled tenant challenged landlord's 2017 fuel cost adjustment (FCA) report. The DRA found that the FCA for 2017 was $2.55 per room per month but that the cumulative maximum FCA was -$6.75 per month. Landlord appealed and lost. The DHCR had tracked the FCA history since 1980 and the DRA's calculation was correct. Since the cumulative fuel cost adjustment was currently less than zero, landlord couldn't collect an FCA in future years until the full effect of the fall of the cumulative fuel cost to less than zero was offset by subsequent price increases.

BLDG Management Co., Inc.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. FR420024RO (8/8/17) [3-pg. doc.]