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
POLICY STATEMENT (90-1)
EFFECT OF RENT REDUCTION
ORDERS ON MAXIMUM BASE
RENT (MBR) INCREASES
This policy statement is being issued to clarify the effect of a
rent reduction order for failure to maintain services on MBR
increases. A rent reduction order may be issued after an
application has been filed, but before an MBR increase is
granted. In such cases, tenants and owners have faced
conflicting instructions since the rent reduction order disallows
all future increases until service is restored, but the MBR
calculation chart allows for service reductions to be factored
into the MBR increase.
Under the MBR system, owners must certify that they are
maintaining all essential services. These are defined as heat
during the part of the year when required by law, hot water, cold
water, superintendent services, maintenance of front or entrance
door security (including, but not limited to, lock and buzzer),
garbage collection, elevator service, gas, electricity and other
utility services to both public and required private areas and
"such other services when failure to provide and/or maintain such
would constitute a danger to the life or safety of, or would be
detrimental to the health of the tenant or tenants. In addition,
owners must certify that they "have and will continue to maintain
essential services."
Therefore, a rent reduction order for failure to maintain an
essential service, as defined above, will bar the collectibility
of any subsequent increase in the Maximum Collectable Rent (MCR)
after the effective date of the rent reduction order, until a
rent restoration order has been issued. However, if the rent
reduction has been granted for a failure to provide a service
which is not listed above and cannot be considered detrimental to
the health of the tenant(s), then the MCR increase, into which
the rent reduction has been calculated, will be collectible.
DHCR's orders reducing the Maximum Legal Regulated Rent ( forms
RO-30 and RO-31) currently do not distinguish between a failure
to provide an essential service or a non-essential service. In
the future, orders will be issued based on the above listed
definition, to eliminate the discrepancies between them and MBR
orders. Rent decrease orders for a failure to maintain services,
currently in effect for rent controlled apartments, which do not
distinguish between a failure to provide an essential or a
nonessential service, bar the collectibility of any subsequent
MCR increase, until an order has been issued restoring the rent.
February 8, 1990
Elliot G. Sander
Deputy Commissioner
------------------------------------------------------------
DHCR Policy Statements are **promulgated** (i.e., officially
issued) by the New York State Division of Housing and Community
Renewal (DHCR) and represent **official** policy of the agency.
The agency is generally obligated to follow the policy contained
in these and other documents or provide a rational for deviation;
failure to follow the law, policy or practice may form the basis
for an appeal. 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 Advisory Opinions,
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 Policy
Statements 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.
------------------------------------------------------------
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
------------------------------------------------------------
