DHCR Sets Legal Rent Based on Equity Where Tenant Was Prior Landlord's Sister

In 2022, landlord applied to the DHCR for a determination of an apartment's rent regulatory status and legal regulated rent. The DRA ruled that the apartment was rent stabilized and set the LRR at $450 per month as of Dec. 1, 2023. Landlord appealed and lost. Among other things, the DHCR noted that the issue of the apartment's rent-stabilized status was previously decided in a housing court case commenced by landlord against the tenant. So, the DHCR can't make a separate ruling on the same issue that was already decided. Court documents indicated that tenant paid her brother, the prior building owner, $420 per month for rent in cash on the July 2016 base rent date. Since the prior owner didn't give his sister leases, the DRA correctly set tenant's current rent at $450.09 per month by applying two-year rent guideline increases in 2018, 2020, and 2022 to set the legal rent. And, since the tenant and prior landlord had operated outside the rent regulatory system for decades, the DHCR could use an appropriate method to set the rent based on the equities involved. 

Mei Ling Property LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. MM210009RO (2/19/25)[4-pg. document]