Tenant Can't Charge Roommate Extra for Business Use of Apartment

Rent-stabilized tenant’s roommate complained of rent overcharge. She claimed that tenant charged her more than her 50 percent proportionate share of the legal rent. The DRA ruled for the roommate and ordered tenant to refund $3,685. Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant claimed that the roommate both lived and worked in the apartment and that the rent she charged the roommate reflected the roommate’s use of the apartment as both a living and work space. But Rent Stabilization Code Section 2525.7(b) specifies that tenant can’t charge a roommate more than a proportionate share of the legal rent-stabilized rent. Tenant also submitted no proof of a written agreement concerning the claimed business use of the apartment. And the DHCR had no authority to grant an additional rent increase for the roommate’s business use. A rent-stabilized tenant is permitted to use an apartment for limited business purposes without being required to pay more than the legal regulated rent. 

Robinson: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. DR410055RO (11/13/15) [3-pg. doc.]