Rent of Combined Apartments Considered in Deregulation Application

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenants' two rent-controlled apartments. Tenants were husband and wife, and the apartments were across the hall from each other. Tenant husband claimed that the apartments were separate and that he and his wife lived separately, one in each apartment. Tenants admitted that their household income for each of the two years prior to landlord's filing was over $175,000. The DRA ruled for landlord, treating the combined apartments as one with a rent of over $2,000 per month. Tenants appealed and lost. In prior court cases, tenants made statements that they lived in the two apartments. Tenants also filed joint tax returns, had a joint checking account, and utilities for both apartments were billed to tenant husband. Tenants claimed that they lived separately, but there was only a kitchenette in one apartment. There was a full kitchen in the other. Tenants also didn't appear at a hearing that the DHCR held for further fact-finding. The DRA properly treated the combined apartments as one unit, given the degree of physical integration between the apartments and their usage.

Ettinger: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. QI420003RT (1/14/05) [5-pg. doc.]