Tenant Is Rent Stabilized, Not Rent Controlled

Tenant asked the DHCR to determine her rent regulation status. She claimed that she was rent controlled after landlord started a court proceeding to recover tenant's apartment for owner occupancy. Landlord claimed that tenant was rent stabilized. The DRA ruled against tenant. Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant claimed that she had moved into the apartment in 1967 and submitted a letter from Con Edison stating that she opened her utility account that year. The building was built in 1947, and there had been no vacancy since 1971. But in 1952, the DHCR's predecessor agency issued a decontrol order for the apartment. That order stated that the apartment was decontrolled and that a prior tenant in occupancy at the time would remain rent controlled until he moved out. So the apartment wasn't subject to rent control when tenant moved in. The DHCR was bound by the prior order, and it was too late to question whether that order was correct. Tenant had been registered as rent stabilized for 24 years and never complained previously.

61 East 75th Street: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. XC420056RT (4/29/09) [3-pg. doc.]