Vacancy-Deregulated Apartment Wasn't Subject to Rent Stabilization

Tenant complained of rent overcharge and claimed that landlord improperly deregulated his apartment. The DHCR ruled against tenant, who then filed an Article 78 court appeal, claiming that the DHCR's decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court ruled against tenant, who appealed and lost. The legal regulated rent on the base rent date, four years before tenant complained, was $1,722. Tenant then rented the apartment at $2,015 in June 2007 and received a vacancy deregulation notice with his lease. The rent was increased by the lawful vacancy increase to reach the deregulation threshold. It didn't matter that landlord mistakenly gave tenant a rent-stabilized renewal lease since rent stabilization status can't be created by waiver or estoppel. Also, in April 2018, New York's highest court ruled in Altman v. 285 W Fourth LLC, that a prior tenant's rent did have to exceed the deregulation threshold in order to deregulate apartment at that time. And, while there was a significant increase in the registered rent from 2003 to 2004, that didn't raise indicia of fraud requiring the DHCR to investigate pre-base date rents.

Trainer v. DHCR: 2018 NY Slip Op 04105, 2018 WL 2726878 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 6/7/18; Renwick, JP, Richter, Webber, Kern, Moulton, JJ)