Smoke Detectors Don't Qualify as MCI

Landlord applied for MCI rent hikes based on the installation of smoke detectors in all apartments. The DRA ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. It's the DHCR's established position that hard-wired smoke detectors alone don't meet the requirements of an MCI, defined as building-wide improvements depreciable under the Internal Revenue Code, other than for ordinary repairs, that are required for the operation, preservation, and maintenance of a building's structure.

94 Linden LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. GO910011RO (3/7/19) [1-pg. doc.]