Tenant Entitled to Use of Roof Area

Tenant complained of a reduction in services because landlord stopped letting him use the roof area next to his apartment in 1996. The DRA ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. Landlord pointed out that tenant's 1976 lease didn't contain any reference to the roof area, that a 1981 lease amendment claimed by tenant was never signed by landlord, that the roof wasn't registered as a required service, and that tenant had waited too long to complain. The DHCR ruled against landlord. It didn't matter what tenant's lease said because there was other proof that tenant had use of the roof for 20 years with landlord's permission before landlord blocked access. Tenant had been evicted in 1994 but later restored to possession on appeal. While tenant was out of the apartment, landlord replaced the door leading to the roof from tenant's apartment with a window. In 1984, the CAB had ruled that landlord didn't maintain services, because the back door to the roof area and the fencing around the roof area were defective. In 1984, tenant objected to landlord's failure to register the roof area as a service. In 1988, the DRA ruled that the roof area didn't have to be registered, since it was connected to the apartment. Landlord also signed a settlement agreement in a 1993 nonpayment case in which it agreed to repair the fence and wood flooring on the roof terrace.

1409 Second Ave. Corp.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. RA410043RO (9/18/03) [4-pg. doc.]