Mitchell-Lama Garage Operator Gets 80 Percent Parking Rate Increase

A parking garage owner asked the DHCR to approve monthly rent increases for Mitchell-Lama development tenants. The DRA ruled for the garage owner and granted a rate increase. The garage owner then filed an Article 78 court appeal, seeking a higher rate increase. The court ruled against the garage owner, who appealed and lost. The garage owner admitted that the DHCR was authorized to regulate the rates charged to residential tenants for parking. But the garage owner argued that the DHCR's authority was limited to circumstances where the landlord housing company itself operated the garage. The garage operator was an independent commercial entity. The appeals court found no rational basis for limiting the DHCR's authority in this way. And the DHCR had approved an 80 percent increase in the monthly parking rate. The garage owner's dissatisfaction with the way in which landlord processed its requests for a parking rate increase wasn't a basis for altering the DHCR's procedures.

Richman Plaza Garage Corp. v. DHCR: 2013 NY Slip Op 08337, 2013 WL 6500623 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 12/12/13; Gonzalez, PJ, Andrias, Saxe, Richter, Clark, JJ)