No Valid Excuse for Late PAR Filing

Rent-stabilized tenant filed a PAR of a decision in landlord's favor. The DHCR dismissed the PAR as untimely. The DRA's order notified tenant that a PAR must be filed within 35 days as a matter of law after the DRA's order was issued. Tenant's PAR was filed 50 days after the DRA order date. Tenant claimed that landlord had access to his mailbox and routinely discarded or withheld DHCR documents mailed to tenant. But 22 days after the DRA order was issued, tenant wrote to the DHCR to request an extension of time to file the PAR because he wanted to review the DHCR's administrative record of the case. But DHCR Fact Sheet 18 states that a party can amend a PAR as of right when the party files a timely Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for the record. So tenant had notice of the DRA decision and the PAR filing deadline, and didn't file a timely PAR requesting time to amend.

Schroeder: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. FS210015RT (8/23/17) [3-pg. doc.]