Landlord Used Same Invoice to Prove Improvements to Another Apartment

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of a rent overcharge. Landlord claimed that it made apartment improvements costing $18,750 and submitted a document signed by tenant and prior landlord in which tenant acknowledged the improvements and agreed to a rent increase. The DRA ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to refund $3,175. Landlord appealed and lost. Copies of the same invoice had been submitted in two other DHCR proceedings to justify rent increases for improvements to other apartments in the building. It was unclear whether the $18,750 cost applied solely to tenant's apartment or to other apartments as well. With its PAR, landlord submitted a sworn statement from someone who did the work in tenant's apartment and photographs of the work. But landlord never submitted the original invoice, as requested by the DRA, and the invoice was the same as a prior invoice submitted in another case except that the apartment number was changed. The invoice therefore wasn't believable and couldn't be accepted as proof of the cost of the 1/40th improvements. The statement from a contractor submitted by landlord that gave an opinion as to the cost of the work wasn't a sufficient substitute for documentation of the actual cost.

539 51st Street: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. XA210010RO (5/12/09) [2-pg. doc.]