Tenant's Rent Increased to Level of Comparable Apartments

Landlord asked the DHCR to set a new rent for rent-controlled tenant because no rent increases had been made for many years. The DRA ruled for landlord and set tenant's Maximum Collectible Rent at $700 per month. Tenant appealed, claiming that the new rent was unfair since she had a low income and was 66 years old. She also said that the new rent wasn't equal to comparable rents in the neighborhood. Tenant argued that a fair rent would be $413 per month. The DHCR ruled for tenant in part. There were no violations or service issues at the building. Prior landlords simply hadn't raised tenant's rent. Landlord was entitled to a fair increase in the maximum rent based on unique and peculiar circumstances. Tenant paid $110 per month when she moved into the apartment in 1963. Her rent was increased, for the first time, to $560 in 1998, then to $625 in 2000, and $700 per month in 2002. Similar rent-stabilized apartments in tenant's neighborhood rented for $650. But rent-controlled rents generally are lower than rent-stabilized rents. So the DHCR reduced the MCR to $560 per month from 1998 through the date of the DHCR's order.

Sealy: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. UI220013RT (5/31/07) [4-pg. doc.]