Sixth Apartment Was Added to Old Four-Unit Pre-War Building

A tenant filed an application with the DHCR, seeking an administrative determination that the building he lived in was subject to rent stabilization. He said that the building was built before 1974, contained at least six apartments, and that since there was no relevant reliable rental history, the DHCR must use the default formula to set his rent. The DRA ruled for tenant, finding that the pre-1974 building contained four dwelling units as early as 1920 but that the building contained six apartments since at least May 2013, when two HPD violations documented two additional apartments. Case law has long established that the addition of a sixth dwelling unit to a pre-1974 building renders the entire building subject to rent stabilization regardless of the date the addition takes place. The DRA set tenant's legal regulated rent at $1,488. This was done by using $1,230, the first documented rent charged and collected in 2016, and after that applying all applicable rent guideline increases to establish tenant's current legal regulated rent.

Jupiter I LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. JQ210024RO (2/16/24)[6-pg. document]