CF 810239 RO
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.: CF 810239 RO
Jonathan Woodner Company, DISTRICT RENT ADMINISTRATOR
DOCKET NO.: YAL 8-1-0039/R
PETITIONER
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ORDER AND OPINION DENYING PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
On June 30, 1988 the above-referenced owner filed a petition for
administrative review of an order issued on May 31, 1988 by the
District Rent Administrator in White Plains, concerning the
housing accommodation known as 13 Cleveland Place, Apartment 1,
Yonkers, New York, in which order said Administrator had
determined that the owner had overcharged the tenant.
This proceeding was originated by the tenants' complaint of
November 30, 1986, alleging that starting on February 1, 1985,
they were paying $45 per month for a garage, that their lease was
due to expire on January 31, 1988, and that the owner was
nevertheless demanding a $30 increase in the garage rental,
effective December 1, 1986.
The owner in answer denied any illegal increase in rent, stating:
"The tenant's garage is not part of his lease. We have no
written agreement . . . for said garage. The rent for this
garage is $75. The tenant is not forced to rent this garage."
The Administrator then determined, in the order here appealed,
that "garage parking constitutes an additional service for which
rental increases may only be exacted in accordance with the
offering of a . . . lease at prescribed percentage increases" and
that the averments of the complaint were accurate. The subject
order therefore restores the garage rental to $45 monthly,
adjudicating an overcharge based on the number of months the
tenants had paid $75 therefor.
In attacking that order the petitioner has changed its stance
from what it was before the Administrator, now stating that "the
provision of parking privileges to the tenant with respect to the
garage parking which is the subject of this proceeding was
established by the written agreement with tenant, the rent bill
not being relevant to this parking."
After careful consideration of the record, the Commissioner is of
the opinion that the petition herein should be denied.
Petitioner's argument appears to be that because apartment and
garage rentals are set forth in separate agreements, an increase
in the latter cannot constitute an increase in "rent" within the
CF 810239 RO
meaning of the rent-stabilization laws and regulations. That
proposition is manifestly untrue. The owner has thus raised the
tenants' rent in the middle of a lease term; that impermissible
increase must be rescinded and its proceedings refunded, which is
what the Administrator has ordered.
THEREFORE, in accordance with the Emergency Tenant Protection Act
and Tenant Protection Regulations, it is
ORDERED, that this petition be and the same hereby is denied,
and that the order of the Rent Administrator be, and the same
hereby is, affirmed.
ISSUED:
JOSEPH A. D'AGOSTA
Deputy Commissioner
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