Rent Cut Applies Only to Tenants Who Signed Complaint

(Decision submitted by Jeffrey Turkel of the Manhattan law firm of Rosenberg & Estis, P.C., attorneys for the landlord.) Tenants complained of a reduction in building-wide services. The DHCR ruled for tenants. Rent cuts were ordered for all rent-controlled tenants, and only for those rent-stabilized tenants who had signed the complaint. The tenants' association appealed, and the court upheld the DHCR's decision. The rent-stabilized tenants were given ample time to submit their signatures if they wished to join in the complaint. The law and regulations covering rent-controlled and rent-stabilized tenants are different. To get a rent cut for a service decrease, a rent-stabilized tenant must sign the complaint.

[The 19 East 80th Street Tenants' Association: Index No. 19584/92 (1/7/93) (Sup. Ct. NY; Lebedeff, J)]. 2-page document.