DHCR Denies Undue Delay in Deciding Deregulation Application

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's rent-stabilized apartment in 2017. The DRA didn't decide landlord's application until November 2019. At that point, HSTPA had repealed luxury deregulation effective June 14, 2019, so the DRA dismissed the application.

Landlord appealed and lost. The DHCR was precluded by HSTPA amendments to the RSL from determining that the apartment was deregulated based on high-rent/high-income. It didn't matter that landlord's 2017 application would've been determined based on tenant's income in 2015 and 2016, events that occurred before the passage of HSTPA. The Legislature had the right to modify the nature and content of deregulation. The fact that such prospective changes may involve review of prior events didn't make it retroactive. The DHCR also addressed landlord's claim that the DRA's delay in processing its application denied due process. The DHCR stated that there was "no question" that it was issuing deregulation determinations on the merits "almost to the exact date of the passage of the HSTPA." The DHCR also said that the many cases litigating the Explanatory Addenda in "LD" proceedings demonstrated that "DHCR was not withholding its issuance of determinations." The DHCR also claimed that it couldn't have predicted the express language of HSTPA changes to the RSL. [Download PDF of decision]

145 East 16th Street LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. HX410291RO (6/7/22)[6-pg. document]