Tenant's Rent Reduced to $1 After Fire, Even If She Caused It

Rent-controlled tenant complained of a reduction in services after a fire on June 3, 2016, rendered her apartment uninhabitable. The DRA ruled for tenant and reduced her rent to $1 per month. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord argued that tenant was the sole cause of the fire and therefore shouldn’t have received a rent reduction. Landlord also claimed that it wasn’t properly served with tenant’s complaint and therefore was unable to respond. Tenant had stated that she left a Sabbath candle unattended and there was no other cause of fire listed in the Fire Department’s Incident Report. Since landlord had to perform costly and extensive repairs to the apartment, it shouldn’t be doubly penalized by a rent reduction.

The DHCR found that tenant’s complaint was sent to landlord on June 29, 2016. When landlord failed to respond, the rent reduction order was issued on July 25, 2016. Also, the cause of the fire isn’t relevant to the DHCR’s determination of whether the apartment was habitable. Under Rent Stabilization Code Sections 2533.6 and 2522.4(d), if an apartment is uninhabitable, the DHCR can reduce the rent to $1 until the apartment is restored, in order to maintain the landlord/tenant relationship. In addition, the Fire Department report also stated that the cause of the fire was under investigation. [Download PDF of decision here.]

B.M.H. Realty, Ltd.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. ET420024RO (12/22/16) [2-pg. doc.]