DHCR - is it really that pro-landlord????

[typicaltenant]

I have recently filed a rental overcharge application (as a tenant in a NYC rent stabilized apartment where the landlord claimed nonexistant improvements) with the DHCR and I am wondering if there is any chance that they will be fair and neutral in deciding my case????I understand that at the rule making/policy setting level of the DHCR they keep doing pro-landlord stuff, but does that mean that a tenant does not stand a chance of getting a fair decision from them? Do they ever issue decisions favorable to the tenant? If so, do those ever hold up at the PAR level? Does anyone know the rough percentage of DHCR complaints that get decided for the landlord vs. the tenant? Is it too late for me to decide to go with housing court since I have already filed with the DHCR (I saw a posting that mentioned withdrawing a DHCR complaint)? Thanks, I think this will be of interest to a number of readers of this bb....

<small>[ September 03, 2002, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: typicaltenant ]</small>

[lappert]

By all means you should consider withdrawing your complaint with DHCR. Yes, they do occasionally issue decisions favorable to tenants, but the process is so cumbersome and the rules are so pro-landlord that you're getting into a mult-year quagmire, and that's easy for the larger landlords to wait out. Housing Court is not pro-tenant and also sometimes hostile, but it gets over a lot quicker.