ADM. REVIEW DOCKET NO.: BF420191RT
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.: BF420191RT
DISTRICT RENT
ADMINISTRATOR'S DOCKET
NO.: ZUC00038AD
DOLORES CANTON,
PETITIONER
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ORDER AND OPINION DENYING PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
On May 5, 1987, the above named petitioner-tenant timely
refiled a Petition for Administrative Review (PAR) against an order
issued on March 2, 1987, by the Rent Administrator, concerning
housing accommodations known as Apartment #7 at 200 West 119th
Street, New York County, wherein the District Rent Administrator
determined that the subject apartment became vacant on or after
June 30, 1971 and therefore is not subject to the Rent Regulations.
The issue in this proceeding is whether the Rent
Administrator's determination, that the subject apartment was
decontrolled, was correct.
The applicable section of the Rent and Eviction Regulations is
Section 2200.2(f)(17).
The Commissioner has reviewed all of the evidence in the
record and has carefully considered that portion of the record
relevant to the issues raised by the administrative appeal.
The then owner (Jesson Realty Corp c/o Jesse Howard commenced
this proceeding by filing a landlord's Report of Statutory
Decontrol filed in 1984 under docket # 2DR74602.
The owner contended in documentary evidence submitted in
December 1984 that Marjorie Gregory resided in the subject
apartment on the crucial June 30, 1971 (rent control occupancy
date) and that the apartment was subsequently vacated and occupied
by Dolores Canton pursuant to lease effective March 10, 1973.
ADM. REVIEW DOCKET NO.: BF420191RT
The tenant, in her answer, alleged that she took over her
cousin Marjorie Gregory's apartment in 1966, but continued to pay
rent to her cousin rather than directly to the landlord until 1971.
The tenant contends that the 1973 lease submitted by the owner was
a "one year rent control lease".
The tenant was advised by this agency in writing starting
April 2, 1985 to submit "documentary proof regarding your occupancy
of subject apartment prior to June 30, 1971.
Said evidence, the tenant was informed, may consist of rent
receipts, gas and light bills, tax returns, bills for things
purchased prior to June 30, 1971, medical bills, etc.
On April 30, 1985 the tenant submitted a letter contending
that she doesn't have any records due to a fire in her apartment.
She purportedly submitted with the April 30, 1985 letter a letter
from Con Edison re: service in her name from June 1966, and a fuel
increase letter dated March 27, 1971.
Said documents supposedly became separated from the file.
Accordingly, the tenant was advised on January 28, 1986 and
again on November 23, 1986 to resubmit a copy of the con Edison
bill purportedly showing service prior to June 30, 1971.
The tenant failed to submit the requested information and the
decontrol order was issued on March 2, 1987 (ZUC00038RT).
The tenant filed her first PAR of the subject order on March
30, 1987. Said PAR was rejected on April 3, 1987 for failure to
state landlord's name and address.
The tenant refiled the PAR on May 5, 1987, which included
owner's name but failed to include the exhibits attached to the
initial PAR. These exhibits are incorporated by reference and have
been given appropriate consideration in deciding this matter.
The tenant in her March 30, 1987 PAR failed to include the
subject Con Edison records requested by the Rent Administrator.
Instead the tenant submitted an unsworn March 22, 1987 letter
from Columbia Mutual Life Insurance Company purporting to show that
the insurance agent has records of the tenant's occupancy since
1960. A cover sheet from a policy included with the letter is
dated July 1971, after the cut-off date for vacancy decontrol under
the applicable section of the regulations.
The tenant further resubmitted (referred to in her 1985
correspondence with the agency) a fuel passalong rent bill dated
ADM. REVIEW DOCKET NO.: BF420191RT
March 27, 1971.
The bill however makes reference to 1980-81 fuel passalong and
is on the stationery of a past owner who first purchased the
building in 1973 (Jesson Realty Corp) according to a prior
statement.
The owner's attorney in a December 4, 1992 letter contended
that the tenant's PAR exhibits are not conclusive as to date of
occupancy. After review, it is determined that the purported March
27, 1971 rent bill is of no value as evidence, as there was in fact
no separate fuel passalong increase program in effect for rent
control N.Y.C. tenants in calendar year 1971.
Further it should be noted that Dolores Canton doesn't qualify
as an immediate family member, for rent control purposes, of the
former tenant's (her cousin, Marjory Gregory); no evidence has been
submitted to prove that a prior owner acknowledged a substitute
tenancy by the petitioner prior to the June 1971 base date.
On the basis of the entire evidence of record, the
Commissioner finds that the weight of the credible evidence of
record supports the Administrator's determination, which should be
affirmed.
THEREFORE, pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Rent
Law and Regulations, it is
ORDERED, that this PAR be, and the same hereby is, denied, and
that the Administrator's order be, and the same hereby is,
affirmed.
ISSUED:
JOSEPH A. D'AGOSTA
Deputy Commissioner
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