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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.: DF230120RO
LEON GOLDSTEIN
D/B/A/ SLOPE REALTY
ADMINISTRATOR'S DOCKET
NO.: CI230025B
PETITIONER
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ORDER AND OPINION GRANTING PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
IN PART AND MODIFYING RENT ADMINISTRATOR'S ORDER
On June 1, 1989 the above named petitioner-owner filed a
Petition for Administrative Review against an order of the Rent
Administrator issued May 5, 1989. The order concerned various
housing accommodations located at 177 16th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Administrator ordered a rent reduction for failure to maintain
required services.
The Commissioner has reviewed the record and carefully
considered that portion relevant to the issues raised by this
appeal.
This proceeding was commenced on September 27, 1988 when the
tenants of one of the apartments in the subject building filed a
Statement of Complaint of Decrease in Building-Wide Services
wherein the following services deficiencies were alleged:
1. Building security nonexistent. Front door always
open,
2. Dirty public hallways,
3. Vagrant allowed to sleep on public stairway,
4. Faulty wiring throughout building,
5. Owner failed to provide tenants with registration
forms.
The owner was served with a copy of the complaint and afforded
an opportunity to respond. The owner filed a response on November
14, 1988 and stated that a new lock and buzzer release was
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installed on the front door, that the hallways are cleaned on a
regular basis, that the new lock and buzzer system will alleviate
the problem of unauthorized entrance to the building, that the
electrical wiring was functioning properly, that the alleged
failure to provide the tenants with apartment registration forms
should not be adjudicated in a building-wide services complaint and
that the tenants never notified the owner of these complaints.
The Administrator ordered a physical inspection of the subject
building. The inspection was conducted on March 3, 1989 and
revealed that the public area stairways between the top landing and
the roof are filthy and contain an accumulation of garbage. The
inspector also reported that the front entrance door and vestibule
door locks were functioning and secure and that there was no
evidence of faulty or exposed electrical wiring.
The Administrator issued the order here under review on May 5,
1989 and ordered a rent reduction of $6.00 per month for rent
controlled tenants. A rent reduction of an amount equal to the
most recent guideline adjustment was ordered for rent stabilized
tenants.
On appeal the owner states that the Administrator granted a
rent reduction to tenants who never joined in the filing of the
complaint. The petition was served on the owner on September 15,
1989.
After careful review of the evidence in the record, the
Commissioner is of the opinion that the petition should be granted
in part and the Administrator's order should be affirmed as
modified.
The owner is correct in stating that the Administrator erred
in ordering rent reductions for the rent controlled tenants of
Apartments 1 and 9. It is apparent from the complaint that only
the tenants of Apartment 20 signed the complaint herein.
Therefore, these tenants are the only ones entitled to the rent
reduction ordered by the Administrator. Section 2202.16 of the
Rent and Eviction Regulations authorizes a rent reduction for all
rent controlled tenants in a building based on a finding of failure
to maintain an essential service, regardless of whether the tenants
joined in a complaint requesting a rent reduction. However, in the
absence of even one rent controlled tenant joining in the
proceeding, the owner was not on notice that the provisions of the
Rent Control Law were being invoked. To reduce the rents of rent
controlled tenants in this case is a denial of the owner's due
process rights. The Commissioner revokes the order here under
review to the extent that said order granted a $6.00 per month rent
reduction to the tenants of Apartments 1 and 9. The order is
affirmed with regard to the rent stabilized tenants who reside in
Apartment 20.
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If the current owner has complied with the Administrator's
order by reducing the tenants' rents and the tenants owe arrears by
reason of the Commissioner's determination herein, the tenants may
pay off any arrears in installments of $6.00 per month until all
arrears are paid. Should the tenants vacate the apartment or have
already vacated, any arrears are due and payable immediately.
The owner may file for rent restoration when services have
been restored.
THEREFORE, pursuant to the Rent Stabilization Law and Code and
Rent and Eviction Regulation it is
ORDERED, that this petition be, and the same hereby is,
granted in part, and that the Rent Administrator's order be, and
the same hereby is, affirmed as modified herein.
ISSUED:
JOSEPH A. D'AGOSTA
Deputy Commissioner
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