Tenant Proves She Is Rent Controlled

Landlord asked the DHCR to rule on whether tenant was rent controlled. Landlord believed that tenant was rent stabilized. When landlord bought the building in 1989, tenant had no lease and the DHCR had no records confirming tenant's status. The DRA ruled that tenant was rent stabilized because she didn't respond to the DRA's request for information and the DHCR had no records showing she was rent controlled. Tenant appealed. The DHCR dismissed tenant's PAR as untimely. Tenant then brought an Article 78 proceeding, claiming that the DHCR's decision was the result of an illegality and irregularity in a vital matter. Tenant claimed that she had moved into the apartment with her now deceased husband in 1968. A prior DHCR rent restoration order named tenant's husband as a rent-controlled tenant. Tenant also said that she never received the DRA's requests for information.
In response, the DHCR reopened the proceeding. The DRA again ruled that tenant was rent stabilized, again based on her failure to submit requested information. Tenant appealed. The DHCR ruled for tenant. Tenant had submitted sufficient proof to the DRA showing that she was rent controlled. A prior landlord registered tenant as rent controlled in 1984. In 1968, a rent reduction order was issued for Lukie Gayle, who tenant said was her husband. In 1995, the DHCR issued a rent restoration order for Lukie Gayle. Both orders stated that Lukie was rent controlled. Landlord didn't dispute that Lukie was tenant's husband. Utility records also showed that tenant had paid for gas and electricity at the apartment since 1970. As the wife of a documented rent-controlled tenant, tenant's wife had succession rights and remained rent controlled.

Gayle: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. WC220050RT (7/29/08) [4-pg. doc.]