Creation of Duplex Units Altered Per-Room MCI Increase

The DRA granted landlord's MCI rent increase application based on installation of rewiring, a new roof, and asbestos removal. Tenants appealed and won in part. Tenants disputed landlord's room counts. It's the DHCR's position that apartment alterations that result in the creation of a new room without any actual change to the overall square footage of an apartment aren't sufficient to warrant modification of the landlord's room count for MCI purposes. But the conversion of two apartments into duplexes by adding basement space to first-floor units had merit, and the total room count for those units was increased by four rooms. This increased the total room count and thereby decreased the per-room MCI increase from $34.25 to $33.07.

Devlin-Reubel et al.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket Nos. EW430014RT, EW430022RT (11/15/19) [3-pg. doc.]