Landlord Didn't Prove Delivery of DC-2 Notice

Tenant filed a fair market rent appeal. Landlord claimed that it was late because it wasn't filed within 90 days of landlord's delivery of a DC-2 notice to tenant. Tenant claimed that he didn't get a DC-2 notice. The DHCR ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed and lost. The DHCR's decision was reasonable. The DHCR had held a hearing on the issue of whether tenant got the DC-2 notice and based its decision on the proof presented. Tenant had claimed that landlord had sent his 13-page lease by certified mail, return receipt requested, and had not sent the DC-2 notice. Landlord claimed that the amount of postage used in its mailing proved that it couldn't have sent the lease in that mailing. But landlord's postage rate information was incorrect. And landlord otherwise hadn't followed its own office procedures in this case. Landlord claimed that it sent the DC-2 notice on the day that it was prepared, but in this case the notice was dated 11 days before it was supposedly mailed.

Spedicato v. DHCR: NYLJ, 2/17/00, p. 28, col. 1 (App. Div.1 Dept.; Rosenberger, JP, Williams, Ellerin, Saxe, JJ)