DRA Improperly Modified Restoration Order

(Decision submitted by Benjamin Binder of the Manhattan law firm of Shaw & Binder, attorneys for the landlord.) The DRA reduced tenants' rents based on reduced building-wide services. Landlord later applied to restore the rents based on correction of conditions. The DRA restored the rents, but later revoked the rent restoration order for all rent-stabilized tenants in landlord's building, based on a finding that repairs hadn't been completed. The DRA modified the rent restoration order to exclude $10 from the rent restoration for rent-controlled tenants to reflect an amount for various cracked hallway windowpanes and loose window handles. Landlord appealed; the DHCR ruled for landlord. The DHCR noted that after landlord had applied to restore the rent, an inspection showed that repairs to specific hallway windows and window handles hadn't been made. Landlord fixed those windows, and the rents were restored. A later inspection showed that some different windows were broken. It was wrong for the DRA to then modify the rent restoration order; landlord hadn't been given notice of needed repairs to the additional windows.

TRB-Essex House Corp.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. GF 130082-RO (6/11/93) [6-page document]