CA 210101-RT
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.: CA 210101-RT
DISTRICT RENT ADMINISTRATOR
Margie Ambrosino, DOCKET NO.: K-3115401-R;
CDR 32033;
K-3102339-R
Owner: 401-76th Street Corp.
PETITIONER
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ORDER AND OPINION DENYING PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
AND
MODIFYING DISTRICT RENT ADMINISTRATOR'S ORDER
On January 4, 1988 the above-named petitioner-tenant filed a
Petition for Administrative Review against an order issued on
December 3, 1987 by the District Rent Administrator, 10 Columbus
Circle, New York, New York concerning the housing accommodations
known as Apartment 1C at 401 76th Street, Brooklyn, New York
wherein the District Rent Administrator determined that the owner
had overcharged the tenant.
The issue in this appeal is whether the District Rent
Administrator's order was warranted.
The applicable sections of the Law are Section 26-516 of the Rent
Stabilization Law and Section 2526.1(a) of the current Rent
Stabilization Code.
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.
This proceeding was originally commenced by the filing in March,
1984 of a rent overcharge complaint by the tenant, in which she
stated that she had commenced occupancy of Apartment 1C on
January 15, 1982 at a rent of $340.00 per month. She also filed
an overcharge complaint concerning Apartment 4D at the subject
building, where she moved on February 15, 1984. Both complaints
were initially assigned Docket No. K-3102339-R. The complaint
concerning Apartment 1C was later given Docket No. K-3115401-R,
and the complaint concerning Apartment 4D continued to be
processed as Docket No. K-3102339-R. The Administrator's order
concerning Apartment 4D stated that it concerned both docket
numbers. However, since a separate order (Docket No. K-3102339-R,
Order No. CDR 31033) was issued on August 12, 1987 regarding
Apartment 4D, and since the December 3, 1987 order under appeal
in this proceeding determines the lawful rents and overcharges
only for Apartment 1C, this order is modifying the
Administrator's December 3, 1987 Order No. CDR 32033 to state
CA 210101-RT
that it is a determination only of Docket No. K-3115401-R.
The owner was served with a copy of the complaint and was
requested to submit rent records to prove the lawfulness of the
rent being charged. In answer to the complaint, the owner
submitted a complete rental history from the base date of June 1,
1978 as required.
In an order issued on December 3, 1987, the District Rent
Administrator determined that the tenant had been overcharged in
the amount of $88.06 as of January 31, 1984 and directed the
owner to refund such overcharge to the tenant as well as to
reduce the rent. The order listed the owner as "407-67th Street
Corp." This is a typographical error. There is no document in
the record bearing that name. While one letter did have a typed
heading of "407-76th Street Corp., c/o Samuel Mandel, President,"
Samuel Mandel signed that letter as President of 401-76th Street
Corp. He also signed a June 12, 1978 Report of Statutory
Decontrol, a July 14, 1987 letter, a September 30, 1987 answer
and the answer to the tenant's petition as President of 401-76th
Street Corp. The $81.79 refund check sent to the tenant was also
drawn on the account of 401 76th Street Corp. The Administrator's
order is therefore modified to name 401-76th Street Corp., c/o
Samuel Mandel, President as the owner.
In this petition, the tenant contends in substance that the owner
submitted rent records only from June 1, 1978, whereas rent
ledgers submitted in Docket No. K-3102339-R show Apartment 1C
with rents increasing from $81.55 to $118.74 during the period
from July, 1973 to May, 1978, with a 94% increase to $230.00 in
June, 1978; that interest should be added because of the
illegality implied in the owner's withholding of records; and
that the owner had given her a check for $81.79 dated September
30, 1987, which she has not cashed.
In answer, the owner asserted in substance that DHCR records show
that the rent controlled tenant vacated Apartment 1C in May,
1978; that this decontrolled the apartment; that the initial
stabilized tenant paid a rent of $230.00; and that this would not
have been in excess of the Fair Market Rent even if it had been
challenged by the initial stabilized tenant.
The Commissioner is of the opinion that this petition should be
denied.
The owner is correct in its claim that it submitted a complete
rental history by submitting leases beginning with the initial
stabilized tenant on June 1, 1978, and that the $230.00 rent of
that tenant would have been lawful even if he had challenged it
in a Fair Market Rent Adjustment Application (which would have
calculated the Fair Market Rent based on increases over the 1978
1979 Maximum Base Rent of $205.62 rather than the Maximum
Collectible Rent of $122.27). The tenant may have mistakenly
assumed hat Apartment 1C had the same base date as her other
apartment (4D), which was vacancy decontrolled from rent control
sometime during or before 1973.
Regarding the issue of interest, the Commissioner notes that
neither the former nor the current Rent Stabilization Codes allow
the DHCR to impose interest on overcharges occurring prior to
CA 210101-RT
April 1, 1984, and that the tenant vacated Apartment 1C prior to
that date.
THEREFORE, in accordance with the Rent Stabilization Law and
Code, it is
ORDERED, that this petition be, and the same hereby is, denied,
and that the order of the District Rent Administrator be, and the
same hereby is, affirmed except as modified to correct the
owner's name to 401-76th Street Corp. and to remove Docket No.
K-3102339-R as a case to which the order is said to apply.
ISSUED:
JOSEPH A. D'AGOSTA
Deputy Commissioner
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