Deregulation Application for 2016 Denied Based on Ruling that Denied 2015 Application

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's rent-stabilized apartment in 2016. The DRA ruled against landlord because landlord's 2015 luxury deregulation application for the same apartment had been denied. In the 2015 case, the DHCR found, after Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF) income verification, that tenant's household income was below the $200,000 income threshold in 2014. And, since 2014 income was relevant to the 2016 application, the case must be dismissed.

Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord noted that it had filed a PAR of the DRA's ruling in the 2015 case, which was still pending, and argued that it was arbitrary and unreasonable for the DHCR to close out its 2016 application based on the DRA's 2015 ruling. The DHCR pointed out that in June 2018, it had denied landlord's PAR of the 2015 decision. And landlord hadn't filed any further appeal of that decision. The DHCR properly relied on the final determination of landlord's 2015 luxury deregulation application in connection with landlord's 2016 application.

222 West 83rd Street LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. GM420008RO (5/23/19) [3-pg. doc.]