Landlord Can't Submit Comparables for First Time with PAR

Tenant filed a fair market rent appeal, claiming that his initial rent-stabilized rent was too high. The DRA ruled for tenant and reduced the rent to $385. Landlord was ordered to refund $15,000 to tenant for the period from May 1984 to October 1987. Landlord appealed, and submitted comparability data for the first time. Landlord said that DHCR must accept this information on appeal because landlord bought the building in 1986 and didn't know whether prior landlord delivered the initial 1984 rent registration statement to tenant. The DHCR ruled against landlord and landlord appealed. Landlord then appealed to the court, claiming that DHCR's decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. DHCR agreed to take the case back and consider landlord's comparables. But DHCR again ruled against landlord. In 2002, New York's highest court ruled that although the Rent Stabilization Law was amended in 1997 to ease the requirements for submission of comparable rents in fair market rent appeal proceedings, the law didn't change the fact that new evidence can't generally be submitted with a PAR. To do so, landlord must prove that it couldn't reasonably have submitted the proof to the DRA. Here, the DRA sent landlord a notice in May 1993 giving landlord a chance to submit comparables. Landlord didn't respond and has provided no justification for failing to do so.

Shore Ridge Partners and JAL Management Corp.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. Wk210004RP (12/23/08)[2-pg. document]