Tenant Never Received Initial Registration Form

Tenant filed a fair market rent appeal. Landlord claimed that it was untimely because it was filed more than 90 days after landlord sent tenant notice of the apartment's initial rent-stabilized registration. The DHCR ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. The court and appeals court ruled against landlord. The DHCR held a hearing and believed tenant's testimony that he never received the initial registration form. Since the agency found that landlord didn't send the registration form, it properly ruled that tenant's fair market rent appeal was filed on time.

780 P.P. Assocs. v. DHCR: NYLJ, 10/28/04, p. 33, col. 2 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Tom, JP, Sullivan, Lerner, Gonzalez, Catterson, JJ)