MCR Set Based on Equity

The DRA set rent-controlled tenant's MCR at $51.75. Landlord appealed to the DHCR and lost. Landlord then challenged the DHCR's ruling in court. Landlord claimed that the DRA mistakenly relied on a rent reduction order issued in 1974 to calculate tenant's monthly rent. Landlord argued that the four-year time limit barred the DHCR from considering a rent history that was more than four years old. The court sent the case back to the DHCR for reconsideration. The DHCR ruled for landlord in part. Rent control regulations don't bar the DHCR from going back more than four years to examine an apartment's rent history. But the apartment's MCR was substantially out of line with comparable rents for similar apartments. So tenant's MCR should be established based on equity. Tenant had been paying $137 per month for several years without complaint before filing her overcharge complaint. So the DHCR set the MCR at $137.

Jonuzi: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. SA220008RK (6/29/05) [4-pg. doc.]