Tenants Submitted Partial Response to High-Rent Deregulation Application

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenants' apartment. The DRA ruled against tenants based on their failure to respond to the notice of landlord's application. Tenants commenced an Article 78 court proceeding, claiming that the DHCR's decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court ruled for tenants and sent the case back for further consideration. The DHCR then ruled for tenants. Tenants claimed that they made good-faith efforts to comply with the DHCR's repeated requests for income verification information. They submitted copies of the first page of their tax returns on four separate occasions. They corrected mistakes in their tax information as soon as they became aware of them. They refiled tax returns when they learned that the Department of Taxation and Finance had no record of one tenant's filing. They had not provided proof of one tenant's payment of taxes because he hadn't yet paid. Tenant also said he had Crohn's disease and took medication that may have impaired his judgment and caused errors in his submissions to the DHCR. The DHCR ruled for tenants and reopened the case. The DHCR found that tenants showed good cause for their failure to fully respond to landlord's application. The case was sent back to the DRA to determine whether tenants' income was above the deregulation threshold.

Shorenstein: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. UF410010RP (11/14/06) [3-pg. doc.]