GH130257RO
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.: GF130013RO;
GH130257RO; GF130014RO
RENT ADMINISTRATOR'S
DOCKET NO.: FJ130063B
FJ130065B
Corona Apts.
PETITIONER
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ORDER AND OPINION GRANTING PETITION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW IN
PART
The above-named owner filed timely petitions for
administrative review of orders issued on May 11, 1992 concerning
the housing accommodations known as 100-12 37th Street and 100-18
37th Street, Queens, New York, wherein the Administrator, upon
investigation of the tenants' complaints, determined that the
conditions found constituted building-wide service reductions.
The Commissioner has reviewed all the evidence in the records
and has carefully considered the portions of the records relevant
to the issues raised by the petitions.
The tenants commenced the proceedings by filing complaints
asserting that the owner had failed to maintain certain services in
the subject premises.
In an answer, the owner denied the allegations set forth in
the complaints or otherwise asserted that all required repairs had
been completed, in that the replacement of the roofs had eliminated
further leaks and other related problems at these locations.
Thereafter, inspections of the subject premises conducted by
a DHCR inspector confirmed the existence of defective conditions.
The Rent Administrator directed restoration of these services and
further ordered a reduction of the rent controlled rents.
GH130257RO
In the petitions for administrative review, the owner urges
that the orders be reversed in their entirety on the grounds that,
at the time of the complaints, and subsequent to the inspection,
roof repairs were being undertaken in the entire complex, and that
their completion, complex-wide, occurred shortly thereafter. The
tenants were served their copies of the owner's petitions.
The record below reveals that the January 1992 inspection
occurred some ten (10) months after the tenants filed their
complaints, and approximately two (2) months after the owner's
November 1991 answer, setting forth that roof repairs to the
subject premises had been completed.
After careful consideration, the Commissioner is of the
opinion that the petitions should be denied.
Pursuant to Section 2202.16 of the Rent and Eviction
Regulations, DHCR is required to order rent reductions where it is
found that the owner failed to provide for the maintenance and
repair of essential services. The owner's submissions below failed
to indicate that ceiling repairs and painting and plastering were
completed in the interim between the owner's November 1991 answers
and the date of the January 1991 inspections, or to explain why
they were not completed.
The owner's submission, for the first time on appeal, of the
contractor's work orders/invoices, showing painting and plastering
repairs completed in February 1992, cannot be considered. As they
were not submitted to the Administrator for his consideration, they
are beyond the scope of administrative review, which is limited to
issues and evidence before the Administrator.
The tenants' statement dated May 18, 1992, subsequent to the
date of the orders, to the effect that the owner had performed the
necessary painting and plastering to the public areas in February
1992, cannot be considered for similar reasons. The tenants'
request therein to withdraw the complaints also could not be
considered, since the orders, when issued, were proper based on the
record presented, and must therefore be followed.
The Commissioner concurs, however, that the orders should be
modified. The allocation of rent reductions to paint and plaster
defects on a per location basis, and additional rent reductions
with respect to defects to the premises in their entirety,
constitutes duplicative rent reductions.
The copy of the owner's petition for administrative review,
inadvertently assigned PAR Docket No. GH130257RO, is duplicative of
the owner's petition under PAR Docket No. GF130013RO.
Rent arrears may be due the owner from the tenants as a result
of this order. Any arrears shall be paid in monthly installments
GH130257RO
which shall not exceed the amount of the monthly rent reductions
revoked herein.
THEREFORE, in accordance with the City Rent and Eviction
Regulation and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974, it is,
ORDERED, that the petitions be, and the same hereby are,
granted, in part. The Rent Administrator's orders are amended to
revoke rent reductions, allocated to defects on a per location
basis, totalling $15.00 per month, as duplicative. The rent
reductions based on defective paint and plaster allocated to the
premises in their entirety in the amount of $20.00 per month,
hereby are affirmed. It is further
ORDERED, that the owner's petition per PAR Docket No.
GH130257RO be, and the same hereby is, dismissed as duplicative.
ISSUED:
___________________
Joseph A. D'Agosta
Deputy Commissioner
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