Landlord Replaced Tenant's Family-Size Refrigerator with a Dorm-Size Unit

Rent-stabilized tenant complained to the DHCR of a reduction in services, claiming landlord had improperly replaced her refrigerator with a smaller model. The DRA ruled against tenant after the DHCR's inspector visited the apartment. The DRA found that the tenant's "current compact refrigerator is the same size as her prior family-size refrigerator."

Tenant appealed and won. The DHCR's inspector had noted only that the "dorm size" refrigerator was working properly. But tenant had complained that landlord replaced a "family size" refrigerator with the smaller unit. She also said that she was disabled and not able to bend down to access the smaller refrigerator. Rent Stabilization Code Section 2523.4 authorizes a rent reduction where a landlord has failed to maintain a required service, and a landlord may not reduce, decrease, modify, or substitute a required service without prior DHCR approval. The DHCR ruled for tenant and reduced her rent based on the reduction in size of her refrigerator.

Brockington: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. lT410013RT (11/9/23)[3-pg. document]