2013 Individual Apartment Improvements Resulted in Apartment Deregulation

Tenant complained to the DHCR of rent overcharge and fraudulent deregulation of his apartment. The DRA ruled against tenant, who appealed and lost. Landlord submitted sufficient proof that after the last rent-stabilized tenant moved out in 2013, landlord performed individual apartment improvements that resulted in a rent increase that brought the legal rent above the vacancy deregulation threshold of $2,500 per month. Landlord submitted more than one form of documentation of the IAIs, the minimum then required under RSC Section 2522.4(a)(1) and DHCR Policy Statement 90-10. The contractor's statement and cancelled checks supported payment of $40,300 claimed by landlord for the IAI work. And the contractor itemized the work done for a gut renovation of the apartment. Although the vacancy deregulation rider included with tenant's initial lease listed a different cost amount for the IAI, this wasn't fraudulent and what mattered was what proof landlord submitted in response to tenant's complaint. It also didn't matter that landlord mistakenly gave tenant a rent-stabilized lease. And, when the apartment became vacant in 2012, RSL Section 26-504.2(a) permitted removal of the unit from rent regulation without reference to the rent at the time of the vacancy.

Young: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. MV410002RT (4/3/25)[5-pg. document]