No Proof Apartment Owner Occupied on Base Date

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. Tenant paid $1,380 when he moved into the apartment. He pointed out that the registered rent for the apartment in 2001 indicated that the base date rent was $880. Landlord claimed that the apartment had been owner occupied by prior landlord between 2000 and 2003, and that the rent registration information was incorrect. In response, tenant claimed that he had seen prior tenant at the time she moved out of the apartment. The DRA ruled for tenant. Landlord appealed, claiming that prior landlord's nephew lived in the apartment on the base date and paid no rent, despite the rent amount filed on the rent registration. The DHCR ruled against landlord. Although landlord claimed that the base date rent registration statements were incorrect, it submitted no sworn statement from prior landlord to support its claim. And even if prior landlord's nephew was a prior tenant in the apartment, he didn't qualify as an immediate family member of landlord under the ETPA. There was no proof that the apartment was owner occupied on the base rent date.

Balaj/Lunal Realty LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. VE910028RO (9/26/07) [6-pg. doc.]