Landlord and Tenant Agree Tenant Is Rent Controlled

Landlord and tenant asked the DHCR to determine the apartment's status and legal rent. The DRA ruled that the apartment was rent stabilized and set the legal rent at $500, based on a 2011 agreement between the parties. Tenant appealed, claiming that she was rent controlled. The DHCR ruled for tenant. The building contained only three apartments and therefore couldn't be subject to rent stabilization. The DRA had relied on a 1970 report of statutory decontrol that declared the apartment to be decontrolled due to owner occupancy between 1953 and 1956. But tenant claimed that in the 1950s, prior landlord improperly decontrolled the apartment because he filed reports for more than one apartment based on owner occupancy. Prior landlord and tenant's parents also settled eviction proceedings in court in 1990 with so-ordered settlement agreements declaring that the apartment was rent controlled. At that time, tenant's parents were in occupancy and the court and an appeals court denied motions by landlord to set aside the settlement. The 2011 agreement submitted to the DHCR by landlord and tenant, both represented by attorneys, also stipulated that the apartment was rent controlled. And landlord didn't oppose tenant's PAR.

Gonsalves: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. AU220001RT (3/7/14) [4-pg. doc.]