Three Apartments Rejected as Comparables

Tenant filed a fair market rent appeal, challenging the initial rent-stabilized rent of his apartment. Landlord claimed that the first rent was legally $2,000, so the apartment was unregulated. Landlord submitted comparability data to support the rent charged. The DRA accepted two of landlord's comparables, rejected three others, and reduced tenant's rent to $1,600. Landlord and tenant both appealed. Landlord claimed that the DRA should have accepted its comparables. Tenant claimed that the DRA should have rejected the comparable it accepted. The DHCR ruled for tenant and against landlord. For one apartment, landlord submitted a lease showing a rent of over $2,000. But rent registration data for the same period showed that the rent was $950. Another apartment was rejected because it was registered as a five-room apartment and tenant's apartment was registered as four rooms. Another comparable apartment was deregulated, but landlord actually charged $1,500 for it. So that amount, not the deregulated rent, was the comparable rent. The DHCR recalculated the fair market rent to be $1,350.

Rubin/Eisner: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. Nos. RL110027RO & RL110064RT (5/19/04) [8-pg. doc.]