Rent Restoration Date Reflects Tenant's Failure to Permit Access

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of a reduction in services based on certain apartment conditions. The DRA ruled for tenant and reduced her rent. Landlord later applied for rent restoration based on tenant's refusal to provide access for repairs. The DRA ruled for landlord and restored tenant's rent effective Aug. 1, 2018.

Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant argued that repair of the cited conditions didn't begin until March 2019 and weren't finished until June 2019. So, the rent reduction should remain in place until June 2019. But landlord showed that it sent two letters to tenant in 2018 seeking access to make repairs. The DRA scheduled a no access inspection for March 20, 2019, and a follow-up inspection on April 4, 2019. At the April 4 inspection, the DHCR found that all conditions had been restored. The effective date of the rent restoration was properly set for Aug. 1, 2018, because the rent restoration application was sent to tenant on July 25, 2018. Although repairs were completed at a later date, landlord provided proof that access wasn't provided earlier. And the general rule of DHCR Policy Statement 90-2 applied, setting the effective date of rent restoration as the month following service of the rent restoration application on tenant. 

Greene: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. HS210020RT (8/26/20) [2-pg. doc.]