Landlord Claims Tenant's $8,000 Rent Too High to Support Income Below Deregulation Threshold

Landlord applied in 2014 and 2015 for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's rent-stabilized apartment. The DRA ruled against landlord both years based on Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) information that tenant's household income was below the $200,000 deregulation threshold in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that because tenant's rent was over $8,000 per month, tenant's annual household income couldn't possibly be below $200,000 per year. But DTF made a match for tenant for all relevant tax years and found that the total household income was below the required statutory threshold. The amount of tenant's wealth or assets didn't count toward apartment deregulation based on high income. And the DHCR can't independently investigate tenant's income.

S&P Associates of New York, LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket Nos. EW410071RO, EW410090RO (5/19/17, 5/26/17) [4-pg. doc.; 5-pg. doc.]