Tenant's Apartment Was Properly Deregulated

Tenant complained to the DHCR of rent overcharge and improper deregulation of his apartment. The DRA ruled against tenant, who appealed and lost. The base date rent charged to prior rent-stabilized tenant was $1,124.66. Landlord was then entitled to a vacancy increase, longevity increase, and individual apartment improvement (IAI) rent increase when another tenant moved into the apartment in 2013. When the complaining tenant moved into the apartment in 2016, the apartment was no longer subject to rent stabilization since the legal rent had crossed the $2,500 deregulation threshold. Tenant claimed that landlord fraudulently inflated IAI costs and no gut renovation was done. Tenant's expert stated that the cost of repairs done for the apartment could've been about $6,300, although landlord claimed the cost was $51,637. Tenant also claimed that landlord's contractor was landlord's managing agent and that landlord didn't obtain building permits to do the work performed.

The DHCR noted that the claimed fraudulent scheme to deregulate the apartment took place after the four-year base date, so there was no reason to look back more than four years. Landlord also submitted sufficient proof to support the IAIs, including a signed work proposal, cancelled checks, and a contractor's affidavit detailing the work performed and a cost breakdown totalling $51,637. Landlord also showed that the contractor wasn't landlord's employee or managing agent for the building. Building permits or current HPD violations also didn't determine whether IAIs were done or how much they cost. The DHCR also refused to consider the affidavit of tenant's contractor for the first time on appeal since it wasn't submitted to the DRA. That affidavit also didn't rebut landlord's documentation of the IAIs.

Lamaani: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. GM410020RT (3/26/19) [5-pg. doc.]