Three-Ply Roof Qualified as MCI

Landlord applied to the DHCR for MCI rent hikes based on installation of a new roof. The DRA ruled for landlord. Tenants appealed and lost. They claimed that the new roof work was a repair and not an MCI. They also claimed that landlord no longer allowed tenants roof access, previously granted by prior landlord before the roof work was done. DHCR Policy Statement No. 91-2 stated that the useful life and cost of a roofing installation is related to the number of plies, and that single-ply roofing generally was ineligible. But the DHCR found that the three-ply paradiene modified bitumen roof, installed on the full square footage of the roof, qualified as an MCI. Landlord had submitted sufficiently descriptive and financially substantiating documentation of the work. And, while tenants' roof usage claim was unrelated to the MCI issue, they could file a complaint with the DHCR for reduction in services.

Conrad/Various Tenants: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket Nos. JU410056RT, JS410012RT (7/17/23)[3-pg. document]