Rent for Uninhabitable SRO Unit Reduced to $1 per Month

Tenant complained of a reduction in services after DOB issued a Vacate Order in 2008. DOB found that the building's sprinkler system was obstructed due to unlawful construction and that this caused imminent danger to the life and safety of all building occupants. Full height partitions set up to subdivide the floor area into 34 SRO occupancies didn't provide a second means of egress. The DRA ruled for tenant and reduced his rent to $1 per month. Landlord appealed, claiming that two of the three occupants who complained weren't legal tenants and had no standing to file a complaint with the DHCR. The DHCR ruled against landlord. There was no current lease for the unit showing who was the legal tenant. And landlord registered the apartment in 2008 using the name of one of the complaining occupants. Landlord didn't dispute the fact that the three complainants occupied the unit at the time the Vacate Order was issued.

81 Bowery Realty Corp.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. XB410009RO (6/26/09) [2-pg. doc.]