Landlord Changed Intercom System Without Prior DHCR Approval

Rent-stabilized tenants complained to the DHCR of a reduction in required services. The DRA ruled for tenants, finding that the building's intercom system wasn't being maintained. This was because landlord had installed a new system operated with tenants' cell phones or landlines without first obtaining DHCR approval for the service modification.

Landlord appealed and lost. The tenants' complaint was initiated for a reduction in several building-wide services, including intercom defects because the phone-based intercom system didn't ring for some apartments. In response to the complaint, the DRA determined that landlord had changed the registered bell-and-buzzer intercom system without obtaining prior DHCR approval. Landlord argued that the intercom upgrade was de minimis and therefore shouldn't result in a rent reduction. But longstanding DHCR policy requires a landlord to file for approval to the DHCR for the modification of a bell/buzzer intercom system to a system that uses tenants' telephones before making such service modification. 

NSA 2015 Owner LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. LM610014RO (4/7/23)[4-pg. doc.]