Landlord Didn't Restore Community Room

Rent-stabilized tenants in Hempstead Village complained to the DHCR of a reduciton in building-wide services, claiming that landlord hadn't maintained a community room in the building. The DRA ruled for tenants and reduced their rents. Landlord later filed an application to restore rents, claiming that necessary repairs had been made. Landlord also stated that in a separate DHCR proceeding the DRA found that the same community room was being maintained in March 2017. Landlord also pointed out that the community room wasn't registered as a required service in 1984, so there should have been no finding that it wasn't maintained. The DRA denied landlord's application to restore rents.

Landlord appealed and lost. DHCR inspection in November 2017 found that there was no community room in the building. The DHCR noted that the absence of initial registration of a building service wasn't absolutely determinative. Landlord didn't claim that the community room was never provided, rather that it wasn't provided on the base date.

Manchester I, LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. FX710035RO (11/30/18) [2-pg. doc.]