Room Count Amended to Reflect Tenant's One-Room Apartment

Landlord applied for MCI rent hikes based on elevator upgrading, elevator cab doors, and elevator motor room roof. The DRA ruled for landlord.

Tenant appealed, claiming that the room count for her apartment submitted by landlord was incorrect. Tenant argued that her apartment was a studio unit with one room. The unit's kitchen was windowless and 54 square feet in size, and therefore didn't count as a room. Landlord claimed that its submitted floor plan showed that tenant's apartment had four rooms.

The DHCR ruled for tenant. The DHCR's Policy Statement 93-2 defines a "room" for MCI purposes as either a windowless kitchen containing at least 59 square feet or a kitchen of any size with a window. In either case, a kitchen must be enclosed by at least three sides, excluding the side(s) that contain(s) the entranceway. Alternatively, a room must be an enclosed area with a window containing at least 60 square feet, or an enclosed area without a window containing at least 80 square feet. Bathrooms, walk-in closets, porches, terraces, and hallways weren't "rooms." Tenant's diagram showed that the apartment had one room that was a combined living room/bedroom with windows containing a total of 198 square feet, and a 54 square-foot windowless kitchen enclosed by three sides. The DRA's order was amended to reflect that tenant's apartment had one room, not four.

Brown: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. FV130002RT (5/18/22)[2-pg. document]