Tenant's Fair Market Rent Appeal Was Untimely

Tenant filed a fair market rent appeal, claiming that his initial rent of $4,800 per month exceeded the fair market rent. He also claimed that the apartment was improperly deregulated because the building received J-51 tax benefits. The DRA ruled against tenant, who appealed and lost. Tenant failed to file the fair market rent appeal within 90 days of receiving the initial rent registration form (RR-1). Landlord’s incorrect characterizations of the legal rent or the apartment’s rent-regulatory status didn’t render the RR-1 defective. But for the fact that the building was receiving J-51 tax benefits, landlord was entitled to claim that the apartment was deregulated in the RR-1. The RR-1 was sent before the Court of Appeals 2009 decision in the Roberts case, which was contrary to prior DHCR policy permitting deregulation in J-51 buildings.

Pollack: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. CX410045RT (10/22/15) [7-pg. doc.]