No Rent Hike Based on Unique and Peculiar Circumstances

Landlord asked the DHCR to increase the rents of a rent-stabilized building that was formerly subject to Mitchell-Lama, based on unique and peculiar circumstances. The DRA ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. The initial rent-stabilized rents were based on the last Mitchell-Lama rents, which landlord claimed had been kept too low by the Private Housing Finance Law. Landlord argued that Rent Stabilization Law Section 26-513(a) gave former Mitchell-Lama buildings an absolute right to a rent increase for unique and peculiar circumstances. But Rent Stabilization Code Section 2522.3(f)(4) was added in 2007 and provides that previous federal rent regulation, by itself, doesn't constitute a unique and peculiar circumstance under the law. And an appeals court had ruled that this code section was valid.

West Side 95 Manor Associates: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. YI420027RO (12/2/11) [2-pg. doc.]