Adjacent Areas Considered as Two Rooms

Landlord applied for MCI rent hikes based on electrical upgrading. The DRA ruled for landlord, and tenant appealed. Tenant complained that the room count on which her rent hike was based was incorrect. The initial registration for her apartment listed it as three rooms, not four. The DHCR ruled against tenant. Landlord submitted a diagram showing that tenant's apartment was four rooms. There were two adjacent, otherwise enclosed areas separated by an archway greater in size than a double-sized door. Each of those areas contained at least 60 square feet and at least one window. So under the room count definition contained in DHCR Policy Statement 93-2, these areas were considered two rooms, not one.

River: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. SA110070RT (4/27/04) [3-pg. doc.]