MBR Eligibility Doesn't Determine Fuel Cost Adjustment Eligibility

Landlord filed a 2006 fuel cost adjustment report. Rent-controlled tenant filed a challenge to the claimed fuel cost adjustment. The DRA ruled for tenant, finding that landlord had already collected the maximum permissible fuel cost adjustment to date. The DRA ordered landlord to refund any excess rent collected from tenant. Landlord appealed, arguing that the DHCR had granted landlord Maximum Base Rent (MBR) orders of eligibility for each cycle since 1986. The DHCR ruled against landlord. The issue of an apartment's maximum collectible rent is a separate issue from eligibility for fuel cost adjustments.

Araujo: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. VF420024RO (10/24/07) [2-pg. doc.]