February Insights

The DHCR remains busy, still ploughing through unresolved pre-HSTPA rent overcharge cases that remained pending and had their parameters altered by HSTPA’s expansion of the lookback period and other provisions. Most recent PAR decisions on overcharge matters contain some discussion of last year’s Regina Metropolitan Court of Appeals decision, if only because the DHCR has had to undo its retroactive application of HSTPA provisions that the Regina Court revoked.

Also, after issuing many PAR decisions upholding Explanatory Addenda that negated Deregulation Orders issued in high-rent/high-income deregulation cases where rent-stabilized leases didn’t expire until after HSTPA repealed luxury deregulation effective June 14, 2019, the DHCR is now successfully defending its position in court appeals of its administrative determinations (see LVT #31206).

The First Department has affirmed the DHCR’s policy that “on time” rent discount provisions are unenforceable for rent-stabilized tenants and that such discounted rents become the legal regulated rents (see LVT #31251).

The DHCR has denied the succession rights claim of an occupant who demonstrated emotional, but not financial, interdependence with the deceased rent-stabilized tenant (see LVT #31252).

Housing Courts remain bound by eviction moratorium provisions of the Tenant Safe Harbor Act and Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020, with occasional decisions that discuss required delays on the execution of eviction warrants due to tenant hardship, presently in effect until May 1, 2021 (see LVT #31241, LVT #31242).

- Eileen O'Toole, Esq., Contributing Editor