DHCR Properly Used Special - Guidelines to Set Tenant's Rent

LVT Number: 9650

Tenant complained that the first stabilized rent of his apartment was greater than the fair market rent. The DHCR ruled for tenant and lowered the initial rent in accordance with special guidelines put out by the Rent Guidelines Board for this purpose. Landlord appealed, claiming that this method was unfair. The court and appeals court ruled against landlord. It was landlord's responsibility to submit comparable rents for use in setting the fair market rent if it wanted such information to be included in the calculation.

Tenant complained that the first stabilized rent of his apartment was greater than the fair market rent. The DHCR ruled for tenant and lowered the initial rent in accordance with special guidelines put out by the Rent Guidelines Board for this purpose. Landlord appealed, claiming that this method was unfair. The court and appeals court ruled against landlord. It was landlord's responsibility to submit comparable rents for use in setting the fair market rent if it wanted such information to be included in the calculation. The DHCR notified landlord of this and gave sufficient time to submit the comparability data. Landlord submitted incomplete comparable apartment information. The DHCR properly disregarded landlord's data in setting the rent.

227 East 57th Street Associates v. DHCR: NYLJ, p. 28, col. 1 (4/6/95) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Ellerin, JP, Kupferman, Ross, Asch, Tom, JJ)