Landlord's MCI Application Was Filed on Time

The DRA granted landlord's application for MCI rent hikes based on elevator modernization. Tenants appealed, claiming that landlord's application was untimely. The DHCR ruled against tenants. The installation was completed on Jan. 3, 2008, and landlord's application was filed on Dec. 30, 2009. Landlord's application therefore was filed within the two-year time limit for filing MCI applications. Tenants also claimed there were questions about the age of the old elevator. In another MCI application, landlord had stated that the prior elevator was 35 years old. In this case, landlord stated it was 18 years old. But landlord explained that DOB records showed that controllers, door operators, and brakes in the prior elevator were replaced 18 years earlier, in 1989. Landlord also applied for and received a waiver of the useful-life requirement for this MCI. Tenants also noted that DOB had issued a stop-work order for apartment renovation work, but this had been lifted by the time the DRA granted landlord's MCI application.

266 Washington Avenue: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. AN230042RT (2/24/14) [2-pg. doc.]