Tenant Claims Legal Rent Is Less Than $2,000 Per Month

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's rent-stabilized apartment. The DRA ruled for landlord based on tenant's admission that his household income was more than $175,000 each year during 2005 and 2006. Tenant appealed, claiming that the legal rent for his apartment was less than $2,000 per month and therefore the apartment wasn't subject to high-rent deregulation. He said that landlord lied about the apartment's rent history. Tenant pointed out that landlord claimed that the apartment became decontrolled in 1991. But the rent registration records show that the apartment has been rent stabilized since the 1980s. Tenant argued that the DHCR should ignore the four-year look-back period for rent history review based on landlord's fraud. The DHCR ruled against tenant. Tenant's rent was over $2,000 when landlord sent out the 2007 Income Certification Form (ICF). Tenant didn't file any rent overcharge complaint or fair market rent appeal, and there was no overcharge during the four years before the ICF was delivered. Annual rent registrations for this period also confirmed that tenant's rent was now over $2,000. There was no grounds for finding fraud and looking at prior rent history.

Shapiro: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. VF410048RT (9/13/07) [4-pg. doc.]