Tenant Is Rent Stabilized, Not Rent Controlled

Tenant complained of rent overcharge in 2014. She claimed that she had lived in the apartment since 1969 and that landlord illegally withdrew the apartment from rent control. Landlord had registered the apartment as rent stabilized in 1984 and gave tenant a rent-stabilized lease in 1995. While tenant's complaint was pending, the DHCR initiated an administrative ("AD") proceeding to determine the rent-regulatory status of the apartment. The DRA ruled that the apartment was rent stabilized, not rent controlled, because tenant didn't submit conclusive proof that she lived in the apartment before July 1, 1971. Tenant appealed and lost. For the first time with her PAR, tenant submitted a copy of a 1955 marriage certificate between her and rent-controlled tenant of record. But tenant provided no reason for submitting this record to the DRA. Also, even if considered, this record didn't prove that the person listed was the same person as the rent-controlled tenant found in the DHCR's records. And tenant waited almost 20 years to claim that she was rent controlled. In the meantime, she signed a number of rent-stabilized renewal leases.

Marcelino: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. DP420036RT (7/8/16) [4-pg. doc.]