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landlord never told me apartment was rent stabilized

NYC Rent Regulation: Rent Control/Rent Stabilized, DHCR Practice/Procedures

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landlord never told me apartment was rent stabilized

Postby nickynail22 » Wed Dec 21, 2016 7:36 pm

i've lived in this apartment for 3 years. i was never provided the New York City LEASE Rider For Rent Stabilized Tenants. all i was given to sign when i moved in was a standard lease.
after the first year i signed a two year lease with a 2.75% increase. if i had known my apartment was rent stabilized i would have only renewed for one year at a time with 0 increase.
since I was never given the lease rider and I believe my landlord intentionally hid the fact that the apartment was rent stabilized from me, can I sue to get back the money they charged me for the rent increase?
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Re: landlord never told me apartment was rent stabilized

Postby TenantNet » Wed Dec 21, 2016 7:48 pm

Look at the original lease, first page, at the top. Does it say anywhere that it's a Rent Stabilized standard lease, or anything like that? Read through the entire lease, including all the small print. Anything about Rent Stab?

Have you requested a rent history from DHCR? Is this a pre-1974 building, or newer? If the latter, is it a 421-a building?

On the renewal lease you have, is it on DHCR form RTP-8? See http://www.nyshcr.org/forms/rent/rtp8.pdf for a sample.

Is the renewal you were offered have an option for the on-year zero percentage?

You don't say the year you renewed. Is the 2.75% in accordance with the Rent Guidelines Board percentages? http://www.nycrgb.org/html/guidelines/apt.html

First thing to do is definitely establish that you are RS. LLs will often fight this.

After dealing with all the above - and I do mean AFTER you've done the necessary homework - then you can file with DHCR for either overcharge or failure to give a lease, depending on the circumstances.
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Re: landlord never told me apartment was rent stabilized

Postby nickynail22 » Wed Dec 21, 2016 9:08 pm

it's a standard t327 blumberg lease that says on top 'use with blumberg 326 rent stabilization rider.
i was never given a 326.
the lease is definitely not RPT-8
the building is 6 units pre 1974. i was never told there was a 0% option for a one year lease and since i didn't know the apartment was stabilized i never checked on my own, the renewal was in december 2014 and 2.75 was the correct figure for that year.
i applied for a rent history from DHCR online on december 8th of this year and haven't heard back from them yet.
the building is definitely stabilized. it was built in the 40's and my neighbor is taking them to court for something else and she has confirmed it.

i almost would have let this go but i hate deception and i feel taken advantage of.
also, my refrigerator died in november and they replaced it in 10 days with a new one. then tried to raise the rent 1/40th saying the refrigerator was an improvement.
i finally had to write a check to them for the full price of the fridge in order to keep them from raising the rent.
they are being so petty that now i want to take them to court over the lease and two years of paying the 2.75% increase.
i just renewed my lease for year three with a 0% increase.

thank you for your quick reply, and your help.
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Re: landlord never told me apartment was rent stabilized

Postby TenantNet » Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:19 pm

What's wrong with your CAPS key? It's not easy to read your reply. Start your sentences with caps. Show up some respect, read the forum rules and use correct punctuation.

LLs can use whatever initial lease they wish, but most use the Blumberg or REBNY. The rider is a DHCR rider. I think the most recent version is at http://www.nyshcr.org/forms/rent/ralr1.pdf

The 326/327 are simply Blumberg designations for copies they print. The real thing is from DHCR.

If the renewal is not on the RTP-8 form, then you probably have grounds for either a complaint of Failure to provide a Lease, or overcharge, or both as the rent can't go up if not on a DHCR approved form.

But get your rent history - do you homework first and find out if the unit is indeed RS or not, or if it should be. It usually takes DHCR only a week or two to get the history mailed to you.

Don't dwell on the fact that you were never told this or that. And don't dwell on needed repairs. Keep those issues separate.

If they tried to raise the rent by 1/40th, did they say it was pursuant to the RS law? It sounds like an admission as to the unit's status. And if you paid full price for the fridge, that's an overcharge, no question. It's blatantly illegal. You should get treble damages for this.

On any appliance replacement, do NOT ask for new items. Ask for a "working" refrigerator. If the LL can't find a suitable working/used replacement, then they must provide a new one. NEVER agree to any rent increase for something like this. And NEVER pay for the cost of the appliance.

Units in pre-74 buildings can be deregulated for various reasons. See if that happened to your apartment, or if the LL is properly registering the unit. If he has done that, you would get a copy of the registration by the end of July each year.

Your remedies can be through DHCR or the courts. There are pros and cons for each. DHCR is notoriously anti-tenant. The courts are slightly less so depending on the judge. In court it really helps to have an attorney, but that costs money. And you could end up on the blacklist.

DHCR can award overcharges and declare your status. I don't know if they can reverse the 2-year lease option.
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