ADM. REVIEW DOCKET NO.: ARL - 08745 - Q
STATE OF NEW YORK
DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL
OFFICE OF RENT ADMINISTRATION
GERTZ PLAZA
92-31 UNION HALL STREET
JAMAICA, NEW YORK 11433
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IN THE MATTER OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE : ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
APPEAL OF DOCKET NO.:
ARL - 08745 - Q
:
RENT ADMINISTRATOR'S
DOCKET NO.:
QC - 002678 - S
RICHARD ALBERT
PETITIONER :
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ORDER AND OPINION DENYING PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
On March 11, 1986, the above-named petitioner-owner filed a
petition for administrative review of an order issued on February
11, 1986, by the Rent Administrator, concerning the housing
accommodation known as 93-49 222nd Street, Queens Village, N. Y.,
Apartment 1 - Y, wherein the Administrator determined that the
maximum legal rent for the subject rent-controlled apartment should
be reduced by $4.00 per month based upon the owner's failure to
make repairs to the kitchen and bathroom faucets. The owner also
filed a supplementary petition for administrative review on
November 4, 1988.
The Commissioner has reviewed all of the evidence in the
record and has carefully considered that portion of the record
relevant to the issue raised by the administrative appeal.
The issue herein is whether the Rent Administrator properly
reduced the rent of the subject apartment.
On appeal, the petitioner-owner alleged, inter alia, that the
deficient services which were the basis for the Rent
Administrator's reduction order were of a de minimis nature not
requiring a reduction in rent; that the owner made numerous repairs
to the apartment plumbing before the issuance of the reduction
order; that the owner is entitled to collect an MBR increase
granted after the issuance of the subject rent reduction order
ADM. REVIEW DOCKET NO.: ARL - 08745 - Q
where the effective date of the MBR increase antedates the
effective date of the reduction order; that a hearing should be
held to determine the issues herein and that he is entitled to both
notice of and the results of inspections held.
After a careful consideration of the entire evidence of record
the Commissioner is of the opinion that the administrative appeal
should be denied.
Section 2202.16 of the Rent and Eviction Regulations provides
that a finding that an owner has failed to maintain services may
result in an order of decrease in maximum rent, in an amount
determined by the discretion of the Rent Administrator.
The Commissioner has considered and rejects the petitioner's
claim on appeal that the conditions found below are minor in nature
and not rent-reducing items. Defective kitchen and bathroom
faucets are serious service deficiencies worthy of the owner's
attention and are not minor items.
The Commissioner also finds that the owner's claim that the
repairs were made prior to the issuance of the reduction order is
without substance. An inspection conducted on August 31, 1988, in
file number CD - 110006 - OR, showed that even after the issuance
of the reduction order, conditions were not fully restored; thus
warranting the Rent Administrator's issuance of an order of partial
restoration on October 4, 1988, in the amount of $3.00 per month.
In the case at hand, the effective date of the MBR increase
granted to the owner is January 1, 1986 and the effective date of
the reduction order is March 1, 1986. The MBR increase, therefore,
antedated the reduction order.
In accordance with Policy Statement 90-1, dated February 8,
1990, the owner is not entitled to collect an MBR increase after
the effective date of a rent reduction order for failure to
maintain an essential service until the Rent Administrator issues
a full rent restoration order. It further states that rent
decrease orders which do not distinguish between a failure to
provide an essential or non-essential service bar the
collectibility of an subsequent MCR increase until an order has
been issued restoring the rent.
Upon the facts found herein, the Commissioner finds that the
owner is entitled to collect the 7 1/2% MBR increase for the period
ADM. REVIEW DOCKET NO.: ARL - 08745 - Q
January 1, 1986 until the rent reduction went into effect on March
1, 1986. Thereafter, the rent is reduced by $4.00 per month as
mandated by the reduction order, and no further increase may be
collected until the effective date of the restoration.
As to the owner's claim that the Rent Administrator should
have conducted a hearing and should have furnished him with notice
and the results of inspections held, the Commissioner finds that
the scheduling of hearings is a matter for the sole discretion of
the administrator and that due process does not require that the
owner be informed that inspections are to take place or that it be
sent copies of the reports, with an opportunity to rectify the
conditions or to respond. The owner had adequate notice from the
tenant's complaints of conditions requiring its attention.
Accordingly, the Commissioner finds that the Rent
Administrator properly reduced the rent of the subject apartment.
The Commissioner notes that the owner's rent restoration
application was granted on November 20, 1989 under Docket No. DF -
110126 - OR.
THEREFORE, in accordance with the provisions of the Rent and
Eviction Regulations for New York City, it is
ORDERED, that this petition be, and the same hereby is,
denied, and the Administrator's order be, and the same hereby is,
affirmed.
ISSUED:
JOSEPH A. D'AGOSTA
Acting Deputy Commissioner
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