Landlord Can't Reduce Laundry Room Hours

Facts: Forty-eight tenants of landlord's building complained of a reduction in building-wide services. Landlord had previously provided 24-hour laundry room service. The room was now closed from 11:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. The DRA ruled for tenants and reduced their rents. Landlord appealed to the DHCR and lost. Landlord then challenged the DHCR's ruling in court, claiming that it was unreasonable. Court: Landlord loses. Landlord had claimed that it didn't provide 24-hour laundry room service, but that the room was merely left open. Landlord claimed also that leaving the laundry room open overnight created security problems. The DHCR held a hearing and heard testimony from different witnesses for both landlord and tenant. Based on the record, the DHCR reasonably decided that landlord had reduced a required service by cutting the laundry room hours.

Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart v. DHCR: NYLJ, 3/7/01, p. 18, col. 2 (Sup. Ct. NY; Wilk, J)