No Proof Tenant Caused Apartment Fire

Tenant complained of a reduction in services after a fire caused her apartment to be uninhabitable. The DRA ruled for tenant and reduced her rent to $1.00 per month for as long as the apartment remained in this condition. Landlord appealed, claiming that tenant caused the fire and shouldn't get the rent reduction. The DHCR ruled against landlord. The initial fire incident report didn't blame tenant for overloading the electrical outlet that caused the fire. A later fire marshal's report, unavailable when tenant filed her complaint, said only that the fire started in tenant's bedroom near an overloaded outlet. There was no finding that tenant caused the fire. Landlord claimed that tenant also caused the fire by stuffing the apartment with paper, garbage, and debris, but there was no proof of this submitted to the DHCR.

65 Eighth Avenue LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. VB410046RO (5/4/07) [2-pg. doc.]