Altered Lease Submitted by Tenant Rejected in Renewal Lease Claim

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of rent overcharge and an improper renewal lease offer. She claimed that she was a friend of the prior landlord and was also the building super who had paid a preferential rent. The DRA ruled for tenant; set a monthly base date legal regulated rent of $860 and a collectible rent of $800 starting Aug. 1, 2014; found that landlord's renewal lease offer for 2018 wasn't valid; and ordered landlord to offer a renewal lease for one or two years using $860 as the legal base rent. The DRA also found an overcharge of $478, which was offset by rent arrears of $1,612.

Landlord appealed and won. Tenant admitted that she altered her 2011 vacancy lease for submission to HRA for rent assistance benefits. So the DRA shouldn't have relied on the lease submitted by tenant. The vacancy lease that landlord submitted was reliable. The legal regulated rent for the apartment therefore was $1,033 as of Aug. 1, 2014, with a collectible rent of $900. There was no rent overcharge. Landlord should offer tenant a renewal lease based on the 2014 rent and, under HSTPA amendments to the rent stabilization law, the preferential rent can't be revoked but must serve as the base rent for any renewal lease increase.

1918 LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. HQ210048RO (12/13/19) [3-pg. doc.]