DG610397RT
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.:
DG610397RT (Refile of
CL630320RT)
ESTHER GRANT,
RENT ADMINISTRATOR'S
DOCKET NO.:
PETITIONER CE630026B
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ORDER AND OPINION DENYING PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
The above-named tenant filed a timely petition for administrative
review (PAR) of an order issued on December 16, 1988, concerning
the housing accommodations known as 2454 Tiebout Avenue, Apartment
5-K, Bronx, New York, wherein the Rent Administrator determined the
tenants' complaint of a reduction of certain services.
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 petition.
The tenants commenced these proceedings by filing a complaint
stating that the owner had compelled the tenants to remove
individual television aerials because the owner had installed a
master antenna, for which the tenants would be charged. The tenants
requested a rent reduction if they were compelled to use the master
antenna.
The tenants also stated that rent controlled tenants had been
paying a $2.00 monthly charge for many years, incorporated into
their monthly rent.
The owner confirmed the removal of individual aerials, noting that
the tenants were "welcome to use the master antenna at a nominal
charge approved by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal
(DHCR)".
An inspection was conducted on September 6, 1988. The DHCR in-
spector reported, among other things, that a master antenna had
been installed on the roof and that tenants connected thereto were
being charged for the service.
DG610397RT
The Rent Administrator terminated the case, finding that it did not
warrant relief on a building-wide basis, but advised the tenants to
file individual complaints of decreased services.
In the petition for administrative review proceedings, the tenant
states that she refuses to be connected to the master antenna, and
requests compensation because a $2.00 per month charge was
incorporated into her controlled rent in 1951 for the right to
maintain a television aerial on the roof.
After careful consideration the Commissioner is of the opinion that
the petition should be denied as it fails to establish any error of
law or fact in the proceedings below warranting modification or
revocation of the Rent Administrator's order.
Division records also show that the Rent Administrator issued an
order on July 25, 1989 per Docket No. CE620154S wherein the Rent
Administrator granted a $2.00 per month rent reduction based on a
finding that the tenant's aerial had been removed from the roof.
Parenthetically, the Commissioner also notes that Section 2529.1 of
the Rent Stabilization Code provides that a PAR must be verified or
affirmed by each person joining therein, and that a PAR filed by an
alleged representative must include, at the time of filing the PAR,
written evidence of authorization to act in such representative
capacity for the purpose of filing the PAR. In light of the
instant determination, the question of whether the petition was
properly filed on behalf of other tenants, or whether the petition
should be considered to have been filed individually by a tenant in
the absence of such authorization, has been rendered moot, and need
not be considered herein.
THEREFORE, in accordance with the Rent and Eviction Regulations,
it is
ORDERED, that this petition be, and the same hereby is, denied, and
that the Rent Administrator's order be, and the same hereby, is
affirmed.
ISSUED:
JOSEPH A. D'AGOSTA
Deputy Commissioner
DG610397RT
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