Proposed Law to Raise Deregulation Thresholds No Bar to Deregulation

In 2007, landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant’s apartment. The DRA ruled for landlord after DTF records verified that tenant’s annual household income was more than $175,000 in both 2005 and 2006. Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant claimed that after the DRA order was issued, the New York State Assembly approved proposed amendments to the Rent Stabilization Law that would raise the rent and income deregulation thresholds. Tenant also said she was a 75-year-old widow with serious health problems who would suffer irreparable harm if her apartment was deregulated. But the DRA properly ruled for landlord based on the law in effect in March 2007, when landlord sent the Income Certification Form to tenant. There had been no actual change to the law, and proposed legislation wasn’t relevant to tenant’s case.

Sokolow: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. XD410004RT (6/5/09) [3-pg. doc.]