DHCR Decisions
Docket No. EA 819288-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
------------------------------------X
IN THE MATTER OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
APPEAL OF DOCKET NO. EA 810288-RO
DISTRICT RENT
ADMINISTRATOR'S DOCKET
NO. DCD-8-1-0072/R
Tenant: Aglaia E. Rigos
Downing Management Corporation
PETITIONER
------------------------------------X
ORDER AND OPINION DENYING PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
The above-named owner has filed a petition for administrative
review of an order issued on January 19, 1990 by a District Rent
Administrator concerning the housing accommodation known as
Apartment 27-B, 300 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, New York.
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.
This proceeding was commenced by the filing of an overcharge
complaint by the tenant, dated March 14, 1988.
The owner did not submit an answer.
In the order reviewed herein, the Administrator found that
according to the rent agency's record the owner failed to timely
file an "Operating and Maintenance Expenses Schedule for the
1987-1988 guideline period." The Administrator determined that
as the owner failed to timely file the aforementioned schedule,
the owner is barred from collecting a guideline rent increase on
leases commencing between October 1, 1987 and September 30,
1988.
Accordingly, the Administrator established the legal
regulated rent at $577.20 per month, for the lease which
commenced on April 1, 1988. Furthermore, the Administrator
computed total overcharges in the amount of $716.37 including
accrued interest.
The owner's petition alleges that it timely filed it's
"Property Maintenance and Operation Cost Survey Schedule" on
April 30, 1987, and al o alleges that a copy of the above-
mentioned schedule is attached to the petition. The owner
asserts that Sections 35, 45, 61, and 71 of the State Tenant
Docket No. EA 819288-RO
Protection Regulations do not state that the owner is prevented
from receiving a guideline increase for failing to timely file
the aforementioned schedule.
After careful consideration, the Commissioner is of the
opinion that this petition should be denied.
The Commissioner notes that the owner failed to attach to its
petition the aforementioned schedule which the owner alleges that
it had timely filed. On April 15, 1992, the rent agency mailed
to the owner a letter requesting that the owner submit proof of
its timely filing of the "Property Maintenance and Operation Cost
Survey Schedule" for the 1987-1988 guideline period, within
twenty days of the above-mentioned date.
The record reflects that the owner did not respond to the
rent agency's letter nor did it submit proof of its timely filing
of the aforementioned schedule.
The owner's assertion that the aforementioned sections of the
State Tenant Protection Regulations do not deny the owner a rent
guideline increase for failing to timely file the aforementioned
schedule is correct. The rent agency's authority in denying the
owner a rent guideline increase in this proceeding arises from
the resolution passed by the Westchester County Rent Guidelines
Board, which requires owners to complete and file, with the rent
agency, the "Property Maintenance and Operations Cost Survey
Schedule," no later than fourty-five days from the owner's
receipt of the aforementioned schedule.
The record reflects that the owner received the
aforementioned schedule by certified mail on March 26, 1987. The
record also reflects that the owner submitted the aforementioned
schedule to the rent agency on July 30, 1987. Accordingly, the
Commissioner finds that the owner did not file the aforementioned
schedule within the required fourty-five day period, and that the
Administrator's order denying a guideline increase on leases
commencing between October 1, 1987, and September 30, 1988, was
correct.
The owner is cautioned that rents for periods subsequent to
March 31, 1990 should be based upon the amount of $577.20 per
month for the lease period of April 1, 1988 through March 31,
1990 as indicated in the Administrator's order, and that any
demand for and collection of an amount in excess of the lawful
amount may give rise to a new overcharge complaint, in which
treble damages may be awarded if warranted.
THEREFORE, in accordance with the Emergency Tenant Protection
Act of 1974 and the State Tenant Protection 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; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED, that the owner, Downing Management
Corporation, shall immediately refund to the tenant all amounts
not yet refunded representing overcharges and interest; and it is
Docket No. EA 819288-RO
FURTHER ORDERED, that if the owner Downing Management
Corporation, has not refunded the stated amounts as of the
expiration of the time for commencing a proceeding under Article
78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules for judicial review of
this order, the tenant may recover such amounts by deducting them
from the rent due to the owner at a rate not in excess of twenty
percent of the amount to be refunded for any one month's rent.
If, after such period, the owner has refunded no such amounts,
and the tenant has not made any such deductions from her rent as
an offset, then the tenant may file and enforce a certified copy
of this order as a judgment for the amount of $716.37 against
Downing Management Corporation.
ISSUED:
Joseph A. D'Agosta
Acting Deputy Commissioner
|