New York State
Division of Housing and Community Renewal
Office of Rent Administration
Gertz Plaza, 92-31 Union Hall St.
Jamaica, New York 11433
Public Information: (718)739-6400


STATE AND CITY RENT AND EVICTION REGULATIONS
EMERGENCY TENANT PROTECTION REGULATIONS
NEW YORK CITY RENT STABILIZATION CODE

ADVISORY OPINION:  92-1  (MAY 20, 1992)

AMENDMENTS, SUPPLEMENTS, EXTENSIONS AND REFILING OF PAR'S*

This Advisory Opinion is issued pursuant to section 2109.8 of the
State Rent and Eviction Regulations (State Rent Regs); section
2209.8 of the City Rent and Eviction Regulations (City Rent
Regs); the Emergency Tenant Protection Regulations (TPR) adopted
under the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA), section 10; and
section 2527.11 of the Rent Stabilization Code (RSC).

Although this Advisory Opinion specifically refers to applicable
sections of the RSC, it shall be equally applicable to stabilized
units in the ETPA counties of Nassau, Westchester and Rockland,
as well as to all rent controlled units statewide. Where a
provision of the Regulations governing these jurisdictions is
inconsistent with the RSC with respect to the application of this
Advisory Opinion, such inconsistency will be noted.

Section 2529.1(a) of the RSC provides that a party may file a
Petition for Administrative Review ("PAR") of an order issued by
a Rent Administrator, where it is alleged that such order is
erroneous.  The RSC provides that the adverse party will be
served by DHCR with a copy of the PAR, and pursuant to Section
2529.5 of the RSC, may file a verified or affirmed answer to the
PAR within 20 days from the date of mailing of a copy of the PAR
by DHCR.

Section 2527.10 of the RSC sets forth the rules concerning
amendments to complaints or applications, which are applicable to
the amendment and/or supplementation of PAR s.

Section 2527.10(a) provides that DHCR may authorize an
amendment at any time for "good cause shown".  An amendment "as
of right", however, must be effectuated PRIOR TO THE TIME WITHIN
WHICH AN ANSWER MAY BE FILED.


1.   AMENDMENTS AS OF RIGHT**

A party may only amend as of right "prior to the time within
which an answer may be filed."  Thus, the party filing a PAR may
amend it or file supplementary material, as of right, within 20
days from the date of mailing of a copy of the PAR to the adverse
party.  However, because Section 2529.4 of the RSC requires that
such mailing be performed by DHCR and because the petitioner has
no knowledge of the date on which the mailing occurs, the party
filing the PAR may amend it or file supplementary material, as of
right, within 20 days from the date DHCR has mailed an
acknowledgment to the PAR-filing (form RAR-9) to the petitioner.
Where the respondent requests an extension of time within which
to file an answer an automatic extension of the time to amend
will also be granted.

An exception to the rule that an amendment/supplementation of a
PAR, as a matter of right, must occur within 20 days from the
date DHCR mails form RAR-9 to the petitioner is the situation
where the petitioner's time to file a PAR is running but
preparation of the PAR cannot be completed because the petitioner
is waiting for the Agency to make available the Rent
Administrator's case file for petitioners inspection.  In such
instance, the procedure which must be followed by the petitioner
is as follows:  The PAR is to be filed within 35 days of the
issuance of the Rent Administrator's order.  The party filing the
PAR should note that it is awaiting an opportunity to review the
Rent Administrator's file and will be submitting supplemental
matters to the initial PAR.  Amendments and supplements to the
PAR will be accepted as of right if made within 35 days of the
time access to the file is provided, and if the request to
inspect the file was made prior to, or contemporaneous with the
filing of the PAR.


2.   AMENDMENTS FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN

DHCR, for good cause shown, may permit the amendment/
supplementation of a PAR at any time before the PAR opinion is
issued.

"Good Cause"  includes such circumstances as newly discovered
evidence which could not reasonably have been offered or included
at an earlier time, changes in the applicable law or regulations,
retention of counsel subsequent to the initial filing of the PAR
and correction of mistakes.  It does not include the situation
where the petitioner is awaiting access to review the Rent
Administrator's file (supra) as the petitioner must follow the
procedure set forth earlier in this Advisory Opinion.

An application for permission to file amendments/supplements to
PAR's for good cause shown must be made in writing to the Chief
of the Bureau which will be processing the PAR, stating the
reason for the filing of the amendment and annexing a copy of the
amendment/supplementation.

In this regard it should be noted that because the time within
which to file the PAR is limited to 35 days after the date the
Rent Administrator's order is issued, with no extension of such
period being permitted, caution must be exercised to assure that
the intended amendment or supplementation, whether by right or at
the discretion of DHCR, does not result in the filing of the PAR
after the 35 day filing period.

Authorized PAR amendments or supplements will be served upon the
respondents by DHCR.

When a PAR has been amended or supplemented after an answer has
been filed, the respondents may file an amended answer within 20
days from the date of mailing of a copy of the amended/
supplemented PAR by DHCR.


3.   GRANTING EXTENSIONS

Section 2529.5 of the RSC provides that a person served with a
PAR may file an answer within 20 days from*** the date of mailing
of the copy of the PAR by the DHCR and that the Commissioner may
in his discretion, and for good cause shown, extend the time
within which to answer.

All requests, made by an owner, tenant or representative of
either party for an extension must be submitted in writing.  Any
request made by telephone must be followed by a written request
within five days.  The written request should specify why the
extension is being requested.  If granted, the extension will be
limited to 20 days.

If a party requires a subsequent extension, he/she must provide
evidence to justify the request.  A subsequent extension may be
granted, upon good cause shown for such time as is warranted by
circumstances.

Where the agency has been directed, pursuant to a court order, to
process a case by a date certain, no extension will be granted to
the party who obtained the court order unless their legal
representative stipulates to extend the deadline ordered by the
court.

Section 2529.11 of the RSC provides that a PAR which is not
finally determined by the Commissioner within 90 days may be
"deemed denied" by the petitioner for the purpose of commencing a
judicial proceeding pursuant to Article 78 of the Civil Practice
Law and Rules, unless the petitioner has agreed to extensions.
Therefore, the granting of an extension by the commissioner which
does not have the consent of the petitioner would not preclude
the petitioner from commencing an Article 78 proceeding if the
PAR is not finally determined in 90 days.  Unless a "deemed
denial" Article 78 proceeding is pending, the DHCR shall
determine a PAR notwithstanding that such 90 day or extended
period has elapsed.


4.   PAR REJECTION ORDERS AND REFILED PAR's

Section 2529.4 of the RSC establishes the requirements for
service and filing of PAR's and specifies that a PAR will not be
accepted for filing unless it is completed in the manner
consistent with the prescribed form which requires, for example,
that it be accompanied by a complete copy of the order to be
reviewed.  It has been DHCR's policy to require that PAR's which
are refiled because the original PAR was rejected also be
completed fully and correctly with a complete copy of the order
to be reviewed attached.   DHCR has modified its policy to
preclude automatic dismissal of a refiled PAR for failure to meet
all of the procedural requirements if a review of both the
initial and refiled PAR's indicates full compliance.

Furthermore, the 15 day limitation within which to refile a PAR
has been extended to 35 days.  A petitioner in a timely refiled
petition may seek additional time to comply with all procedural
requirements by setting forth in the refiled petition reasons why
the 35 day time period is insufficient to provide all required
information.

Use of the procedures established by this Advisory Opinion will
both assure that the integrity of the PAR filing period is
strictly maintained, and that petitioners are afforded a
reasonable opportunity to complete the preparation of their PAR'
s and all parties to the PAR have a reasonable opportunity to
respond.


May 20, 1992

JOSEPH A. D'AGOSTA
Acting Deputy Commissioner
Rent Administration


*    The State Rent Control Regulations use the term "Protest.

**   Except under N.Y.C. rent stabilization, parties are
     responsible for service of pleadings on all adverse parties.
     DHCR now uniformly serves PAR's on all adverse parties,
     waiving the service requirements.

***  Under the State and City Rent Control Regs and the TPR, the
     answer must be filed within 15 days.

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DHCR Advisory Opinions are issued by the New York State Division
of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) and represent the
agency's interpretation of the rent laws.

On any challenge or appeal, the agency may claim it has wide
"discretion" to interpret the rent laws as it sees fit, as long
as it's interpretation is not arbitrary, capricious or an abuse
of discretion. In such instances, the agency must show it's
interpretation is consistent with past practice and rational.
Discretion is different from mandates where the agency is obliged
to follow certain policies, practices or interpretations.
Mandates are usually based in (and stated in) the law.

In many instances, the agency refuses (or fails) to issue
official interpretations in order to maintain it's discretion. In
practice, such unaccountable discretion is seen by some as an
abuse of the intent of the rent laws.

Electronic versions of the documents on TenantNet
are for informational purposes only and there is no guarantee
they will be accepted by any court (or even DHCR) as true copies
of DHCR policy. The reader is advised to obtain true copies of
these documents from DHCR.

Also see DHCR Policy Statements, DHCR Operational Bulletins, the
Rent Stabilization Code, the Rent Stabilization Law and various
Rent Control Statutes.

Every attempt has been made to conform to the original Advisory
Opinions as issued by DHCR; TenantNet makes no
representation the enclosed material is current or will be
applied as written.  The reader is advised that DHCR often fails
to properly apply, interpret or enforce housing laws.  Since
housing laws are complex and often contradictory, it is
recommended the reader obtain competent legal advice from a
tenant attorney or counseling from a tenant association or
community group. (rev. 3/13/96) DHCR documents
are public documents; the electronic version of such documents
have been developed by TenantNet and any added value, enhancements
and/or proprietary features are copyright 1994, 1995 and 1996 by
TenantNet. These documents may be freely distributed provided they
remain intact as herein presented, including this and the top
informational banner referencing TenantNet as the original provider.
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For more information or assistance. call the DHCR Rent Infoline
at (718) 739-6400, or visit your Borough Rent Office.

Queens Central Office
92-31 Union Hall St. 4th Fl.
Jamaica, NY 11433
(718) 739-6400

Bronx
One Fordham Plaza
Bronx, NY 10458
(718) 563-5678

Brooklyn
250 Schermerhorn St.
3rd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 780-9246

Lower Manhattan
156 William Street
9th Floor
NY, NY 10038
(212) 240-6011, 6012
South side of 110th St. and below

Upper Manhattan
163 W. 125th St.
5th Floor
NY, NY 10027
(212) 961-8930
North side of 110th St. and above

Staten Island
350 St. Mark's Place
Room 105
Staten island, NY 10301
(718) 816-0277

Nassau County District Rent Office
50 Clinton Street, 6th Floor
Hempstead, NY 11550
(516) 481-9494

Westchester County District Rent Office
55 Church Street, 3rd Floor
White Plains, NY 10601
(914) 948-4434

Rockland County District Rent Office
94-96 North Main St.
Spring Valley, NY 10977
(914) 425-6575

Albany Regional Office
119 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12210
(518) 432-0596

Buffalo Regional Office
Ellicot Square Building
295 Main St., Room 438
Buffalo, NY 14203
(716) 856-1382
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