New York State
Division of Housing and Community Renewal
Rent Administration - Operational Bulletins
New York City Rent Stabilization Code
New York City Rent and Eviction Regulations
Operational Bulletin 96-2 (August 28, 1996)
Change from Rent Inclusion of Electric Current to
Direct Payment by Tenant;
Schedule of Rent Decreases Affecting
Emergency Tenant Protection Regulations (TPR)
New York City Rent Stabilization Code (RSC)
State Rent and Eviction Regulations (SRR)
New York City Rent and Eviction Regulations (CRR)
This Operational Bulletin is issued pursuant to the TPR adopted under the
Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974; Section 2527.11 of the RSC;
Section 2109.8 of the SRR; and Section 2209.8 of the CRR, and establishes
a schedule of rent decreases for rent stabilized, as well as rent
controlled housing accommodations, where, with the approval of DHCR,
there is a change from rent inclusion of electric current to direct
payment by the tenant to a public utility company. The schedule of rent
decreases set forth in Administrator's Interpretation No. 7 (issued March
21, 1975 and applicable to New York City rent controlled housing
accommodations), as well as any other outstanding schedule applicable to
other housing accommodations, is superseded by the schedule contained in
this Operational Bulletin.
Tenants of many rent regulated housing accommodations receive unmetered
electric current as a service included in the rent. As is stated in
Administrator's Interpretation No. 7, where an owner has been furnishing
unlimited electric current to the tenants:
The growing number of electrical appliances and equipment
presently available to the tenant has caused demands for
increased electric current beyond all previous
contemplation and in many instances in excess of the
capacity of the existing electrical wiring system. Even
some wiring systems installed relatively recently, as well
as earlier installations, have become inadequate to supply
the needed electricity.
[C]onsidering the greatly increased usage of electrical
appliances, the probability of further increase in usage
and the accelerating increase in cost of electric current,
some landlords no longer find it economically feasible to
install adequate wiring in a building where the electric
current is included in the rent. Further, even where a
building was previously rewired, the landlord may find that
the present cost of supplying electric service to the
tenants has made this arrangement uneconomical.
To ensure that rent decreases upon conversion to direct metering
appropriately reflect the costs of electric current, DHCR will apply the
following schedule of rent decreases for both rent controlled and rent
stabilized housing accommodations based upon the "Section 8 Electrical
Utility Allowance" for each locality indicated below; and eliminate from
the rent any authorized appliance charges levied against the tenant to
offset the cost of operating appliances which consume large quantities of
electricity (i.e. air conditioners.) In all locations, the decrease set
forth below along with the elimination of the authorized appliance
charges will be the only decreases allowed and will not be followed by
any additional decreases.
Bedrooms
Municipality/County 0 1 2 3 4+
New York City (1) $31 $35 $41 $46 $49
Westchester/Rockland (2) $30 $32 $38 $43 $55
Nassau (3) $19 $24 $29 $39 $48
Albany/Rensselaer/
Schenectady (4) $20 $26 $35 $43 $53
Erie (5) $22 $28 $38 $47 $58
(1) New York City Housing Authority
(2) Yonkers Housing Authority
(3) Hempstead and Long Beach Housing Authority
(4) Albany Housing Authority
(5) Rental Assistance Corporation of Buffalo
Except to the extent necessary to implement the rent decreases set forth
above, this Operational Bulletin does not change current procedures for
the termination of rent inclusion of electric current.
Paul A. Roldan
Deputy Commissioner for Rent Administration
Reissued 9/96
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DHCR Operational Bulletins are issued by the New York State
Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) and update
agency administration 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 Advisory Opinions, the Rent Stabilization Code, the Rent
Stabilization Law and various Rent Control Statutes.
Every attempt has been made to conform to the original Operational
Bulletins 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
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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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