Landlord Didn't Send ICF to Both Tenants

(Decision submitted by David Hershey-Webb of the Manhattan law firm of Himmelstein McConnell Gribben Donoghue & Joseph, attorneys for the tenant.)

Landlord applied in 2011 for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's rent-stabilized apartment. The DRA ruled against landlord and dismissed the application based on landlord's failure to send copies of the Income Certification Form (ICF) to both tenants named on the lease. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that any error was de minimis, or minor. Landlord didn't name the second tenant on the ICF, who was the only one living in the apartment at the time. This tenant acknowledged receiving both the ICF and the luxury deregulation (LD) application, which were addressed to the other tenant. But Rent Stabilization Law Section 26-504.3 and Rent Stabilization Code Section 2531.2 require landlord to send both tenants copies of the ICF by May 1, 2011, before filing its LD application. The ICF itself requires landlord to list the tenants "as named on the lease." Landlord's application therefore was defective because landlord didn't send copies of the ICF to each of the two tenants named on the lease.

Courtney House, LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. AU410036RO (10/4/13) [2-pg. doc.]