Tenant Entitled to Rent-Stabilized Lease at Rent Charged When He Moved In

Tenant complained to the DHCR that landlord refused to give him a rent-stabilized lease. When tenant moved into the apartment in 2021, prior landlord gave him a seven-month short-term occupancy agreement at monthly rent of $1,100. The DRA ruled for tenant, found that the apartment was rent stabilized, and ordered landlord to give tenant a rent-stabilized lease.

Landlord appealed and lost. The building's C of O showed it contained six apartments on the date when the building first became subject to rent stabilization. There was no proof that the building contained fewer than six apartments when the building first became subject to the RSL. And, given the lack of rental history information for the apartment, the DHCR directed landlord to offer tenant a lease at $1,100 per month, which was rent agreed to when tenant commenced occupancy following occupancy of the unit by a caretaker and subsequent long-term vacancy.

NY Property Services LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. LR210001RO (9/19/23)[3-pg. document]