Landlord Can't Prove How Apartment Became Deregulated

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent and claimed that tenant was unregulated. Tenant claimed that the apartment was improperly vacancy deregulated and asked the court to dismiss the case because the apartment rent didn't reach the deregulation threshold. The court ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed and lost. The apartment was rent controlled until June 1999 when that tenant moved out. Landlord presented no subsequent lease records to explain how the apartment was deregulated. And DHCR rent registration records were insufficient to prove deregulation. The rent registration records showed the apartment registered as temporarily exempt during the relevant period. Landlord claimed that this was an error but submitted no documents to explain time gaps, who occupied the apartment, or the amount of rent collected. The case was sent back for further fact-finding in order to determine the legal rent.

Stahl York Avenue Co., LLC v. Yang: 59 Misc.3d 131(A), 2018 NY Slip Op 50431(U) (App. T. 1 Dept.; 3/29/18; Gonzalez, JP, Cooper, J)