Rent Administrator Must Reconsider Comparable Base Date Rent

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of rent overcharge. The DRA ruled for tenant and computed tenant’s base date rent using the DHCR’s default procedure due to landlord’s failure to submit a lease and/or rent ledger in effect on the base rent date. Landlord appealed, challenging the rent used by the DHCR as the base date rent. The DHCR ruled against landlord, who then filed an Article 78 petition. The case was then sent back to the DHCR for reconsideration. The court noted that the DRA failed to utilize a comparable apartment from the same building with the same number of bedrooms as tenant’s apartment. The DHCR sent the case back to the DRA for reconsideration and ruled that the DRA incorrectly chose to use a one-bedroom apartment as a comparable. Tenant’s apartment had two bedrooms, and the DRA should use an apartment that's similar to the apartment when computing the base date rent using the DHCR’s default formula. 

Burroughs: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. DU110011RP (12/10/15) [2-pg. doc.]