Can Regina vs DHCR deregulate an apartment?

[jfsdh]

I'm a tenant not so familiar with NYC tenancy law but trying to understand now. My apartment was rent stabilized when I moved in (I signed a rider) and I've resigned at the same price a few times since then. My landlord now wants to raise my rent by more than the RGB allowance which confused me but then they claimed that my apartment was deregulated due to Regina soon after I moved in. They sent a letter to me that they had claimed that they sent before claiming that

The building had previously received J51 benefits but reached the high rent deregulation in 2013 and that the first vacancy after the expiration of J51 benefits was the one right before I moved in. And therefore that the apartment is deregulated.

My question is what does Regina have to do with any of that? All of that seems like it was true before I moved in and Regina was decided. And everything that I read seems to say Regina is about overcharges and lookback periods etc. That sounds like something that isn't even in the picture when determining the status of an apartment. But, again, I'm new to all this so I could really use some help making heads or tails of this letter

[TenantNet]

Please send us a copy of the LL letter by Private Mail (us the PM button) or by email to tenant -- at -- tenant.net. We would need to see the basis the LL is stating it's no longer RS.

You say your unit was RS, but then you say it was deregulated pursuant to high rent. What year did you move in? Please provide a timeline in your email or private mail.

[jfsdh]

hi! I sent you a PM follow up. Rough timeline: I moved in end of 2019 and have renewed a few times since then. Curious what you think

[TenantNet]

Thanks. I got it, but tied up right now. I will reply when I can.

[TenantNet]

Sorry for the delay. I'm trying to catch up with a number of threads. I was under the weather for a few weeks and my own LL is being a problem.

Regina, in itself, is a court decision that resolved a dispute. I'm going to look at it again to see what it might say about J51 (but other decisions do that). But, yes, Regina did say that retroactive lookbacks prior to 2019 are limited to 4 years. After 2019 they should be six years. That would be 4 or 6 years looking back from the date one files a complaint with DHCR or the courts.

Regina doesn't deregulate anything. The law does. And High-Rent and High-Income Deregulation were in effect until June 2019. Then they weren't.

We also believe the the level of rent and overcharges are one thing ... and that apartment status (RS or not) is something else. But we've heard a few people disagree with that. We think one can file with DHCR for a status determination whether or not that might reset the rent to a lower amount or decide on any overcharges.

If so, among other things, that could mean a lease rent that is lower than the "legal regulated rent" would be considered a Preferential Rent, and if after 2019, the PR (along with RGB increases applied to the PR) would be the payable rent until the end of the tenancy. A RS status would also provide that required services must be continued.

I will look at the PM you sent and update this thread if warranted.

In the meantime, take a look at what I wrote on Oct 9 in this thread:
http://www.tenant.net/phpBB3/viewtopic. ... 414#p62388

[jfsdh]

Thanks! Sorry I sent a message I hadn't seen this response.
What you said tracks with my (limited) understanding of my situation. Which is that my LL's claim about deregulation is wrongly stated. (The form they submitted for deregulation lists the reason as "Other: Regina vs DHCR" which is not how that works).
Someone else I was speaking to claimed that the J-51 aspect may make it different but also doesn't seem to explain the Regina connection. And if Regina doesn't have anything to do with it, it seems suspect that I was issues a lease with a stabilization rider and then they deregulated. If not Regina, what would have changed between the onset of the lease and the first renewal?
I'm really leaning towards filing a claim or at least calling up my LL to ask what they know. Thanks so much for your help!