Rent-Controlled Tenant Can't Be Evicted from Underused Apartment

Two rent-controlled tenants in separate apartments on the same floor of landlord's building got married and continued to live in both apartments. When one tenant died, landlord asked the DHCR if he could take back one of the apartments because remaining tenant underused it. She spent most of her time in one apartment, and landlord was willing to install a shower in that apartment so that tenant would have no need for the other. Each of the apartments contained four rooms. In an opinion letter, the DHCR said that the provision of the rent control regulations that permitted taking back underused apartments applied only to individual apartments that contained six or more rooms. Since each of the apartments here contained fewer than six rooms, the rules didn't apply.

DHCR Opin. Ltr. by Charles Goldstein (12/26/01) [3-pg. doc.]