Possible to speed up DHCR proceeding?

[TenantNet]

On June 12 you said DHCR gave you specific information on your case. I asked you who said that, but you didn't reply. I'm still interested who at DHCR is giving you this info (I presume over the phone). If you're concerned, please reply using Private Mail.

At this stage, it appears your case is getting complicated. I'd say an active DHCR case should put the court case on hold. I've seen case law on that, but I've also seen cowboy Housing Court judges ignore the law. I'd suggest now to get some legal assistance from a tenant attorney. Holdovers can be tricky - easy to make a mistake.

[slimmccoy]

Sorry I missed you on that. It was just whomever answered the phone at DHCR, I don't have any information about who they were.

They didn't really have specific information other than I asked them if they received the additional info from both me and the LL. They said they had everything from me, didn't have the LL's yet who likely got an extension. When I asked about overall timeline they said "final stages of processing". I was guessing that meant 5-6 months based off the "understanding the status of your case" sheet, which quotes 2-6 months or more after receiving all the additional info.

It hasn't quite been 6 months based on the extension the LL got, but I'm concerned it's going to fall into the "or more" category.

The judge has already denied the request for a stay of use and occupancy until the DHCR rules. I do have legal assistance now, but most of this headache would be solved if the DHCR would just rule on this case. Since the court will not wait, is there any path to getting someone at DHCR to give a green light to an expedited proceeding?

[slimmccoy]

Update to this, I called DHCR again and the rep can see when I sent in my additional information (months ago) but has no record of additional information being received from the landlord.

It seems the case is just sitting waiting for the landlord to send in additional information, and I can't imagine any extension granted to produce documents was several months long.

How should I proceed? Is anyone at the DHCR ever going to compel the landlord to actually produce documents, or can the landlord ignore their request indefinitely and keep this case in limbo?

Would a FOIL request be helpful in this scenario?

[TenantNet]

All you can do is wait. DHCR does what it wants, and when it wants. I've seen five years; I've also seen the make decisions prior to the deadline.

I've also seen them grant LLs multiple extensions of time to reply, and they deny the same to tenants.

You can FOIL documents, but that should not have an effect on their processing.

In the end, keep records. If they did something incorrect, that could be a basis for appeal.

You can also commence a mandamus case in Supreme Court to compel the agency to make a decision (did I mention that above?) You could do it on your own, but better if you have a lawyer. I can't say though if that will help or hurt your case.

[slimmccoy]

I see, I guess it must be a case of multiple extensions here.

Is a mandamus the same as article 78? I was looking into that but it seems like you can't file it until there is an order issued one way or the other.

[TenantNet]

AFAIK a Mandamus is a type of Article 78. Google "NYS CPLR Article 78." A Mandamus seeks to have a court order an agency to make a decision -- any decision -- as they've waited too long.

A regular A78 is an appeal of an administrative order, so then, yes, there must be a decision that was issued.

[slimmccoy]

Thank you for clearing that up! I thought they were on in the same. Sounds like a good avenue to try with a lawyer. Your last sentence in your previous post about being unsure whether it would help or hurt the case; are there instances where speeding them up via this route is bad, or do they just not like the Supreme Court getting involved? I'm curious what I'm missing as it seems like it would be a no brainer if someone could get them to make a decision already.