Transfer of Garbage Cans to Basement Wasn't Reduction in Services

LVT Number: #29895

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of a reduction in building-wide services. The DRA ruled against tenant, finding no service reduction. Tenant appealed and lost. Among other things, tenant complained that landlord had previously provided trash receptacles on each floor by the stairwells for tenants to dispose of their trash. But after ECB issued a violation in 2015 for failure to keep the exit passageways unobstructed, landlord was required to remove the garbage cans and other obstructions from these areas.

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of a reduction in building-wide services. The DRA ruled against tenant, finding no service reduction. Tenant appealed and lost. Among other things, tenant complained that landlord had previously provided trash receptacles on each floor by the stairwells for tenants to dispose of their trash. But after ECB issued a violation in 2015 for failure to keep the exit passageways unobstructed, landlord was required to remove the garbage cans and other obstructions from these areas. Landlord then placed the garbage cans in the basement, and tenants had to take their garbage to those receptacles. So, since ECB no longer allowed garbage cans to be provided on each floor, and since the DHCR had already determined in a separate order that those receptacles were an adequate substitute for the previously provided services, no rent reduction was warranted. A court had denied tenant's appeal of the prior DHCR order.

Schwartz: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. EW410031RT (11/21/18) [3-pg. doc.]

Downloads

EW410031RT.pdf372.04 KB