Landlord Had No Proof of Vacancy Deregulation Based on Gut Rehab

Tenant asked the DHCR to determine whether her apartment was rent stabilized. The DRA ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to offer tenant a rent-stabilized lease and to register the apartment.

Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord argued that the DRA's order was the result of an illegality or irregularity in a vital matter, and that the unit hadn't been rent stabilized since 2009. Landlord had advised the DRA that the apartment had been gut renovated in 2009 and was permanently exempt from rent stabilization after that. In response, the DRA directed landlord to file a DHCR Application by Owner to Determine Whether Building/Apartment is Exempt from the ETPA or the Rent Stabilization Law (Form RS-3). But DHCR records showed that landlord never filed this application and didn't respond to the DRA's request for further information. So the DRA correctly ruled against landlord, who submitted no proof that the apartment had been deregulated.

1012 Willoughby LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. HR210020RO (8/11/21)[3-pg. document]