Landlord Didn't Offer Proper Renewal

Tenant complained that landlord hadn't offered him a proper rent-stabilized renewal lease. Tenant's last lease expired on September 30, 2005 and tenant continued to pay the same rent. The DRA ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to give tenant a renewal lease with a term starting on Oct. 1, 2007. Landlord appealed, claiming that it had offered tenant a timely renewal but tenant refused to sign. Landlord sent tenant a second renewal offer in July 2007 but omitted the amount of rent to be paid. Landlord said it left out the rent pending a DHCR ruling on what the rent should be. The DHCR ruled against landlord. Landlord didn't take any action against tenant in 2005 based on its claim that tenant refused to sign a renewal lease. Instead, landlord simply continued to accept the rent tenant paid under the lease that ended in September 2005. The renewal lease landlord sent in 2007 was improper because it didn't state the amount of rent to be paid. The DRA correctly ordered landlord to offer tenant a renewal lease to start on Oct. 1, 2007.

Patrick Lucas, LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. VK210054RO (2/21/08) [2-pg. doc.]