No MCI Increase for Handicap Ramp

Landlord applied for MCI rent hikes based on the installation of a handicap ramp. The DRA ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. Several tenants had objected, pointing out that there were no handicapped individuals in their apartments. The DRA had asked landlord to submit a list of handicapped tenants in the building. Landlord argued that it was forbidden by federal fair housing laws to request disability information from tenants and therefore had no list to submit. Landlord claimed that the DHCR had granted MCI applications in other cases without requesting such lists.

But it was longstanding DHCR policy that in order for a handicap ramp installation to qualify as an MCI, landlord must show that the installation was needed to provide wheelchair access for handicapped tenants in the building who requested a reasonable modification to accommodate a disability. The DHCR has always denied a rent increase for handicap ramps when there was no proof that handicapped tenants lived there. And the DRA had clarified its request for additional information, asking landlord to submit proof that it had received a reasonable modification request either from a tenant or a government agency or organization at the time the ramp was installed. In this case, a former tenant had asked for the ramp in October 2004, but landlord didn't start the installation until April 2006. It wasn't completed until November 2007, more than three years after the request. The work therefore wasn't done at the time of the request.

1230 Avenue X: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. CO210005RP (7/8/14) [2-pg. doc.]