MATTER OF 251 WEST 98TH STREET OWNERS, LLC v. NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL

• Decision Date: 03 October 2000
• Citation: 713 N.Y.S.2d 729,276 A.D.2d 265
• Parties: In the Matter of 251 WEST 98TH STREET OWNERS, L. L. C., Appellant,<BR>v.<BR>NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL, Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

276 A.D.2d 265

713 N.Y.S.2d 729

In the Matter of 251 WEST 98TH STREET OWNERS, L. L. C., Appellant,

v.NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL, Respondent.

Decided October 3, 2000.

Concur — Williams, J.P., Tom, Ellerin, Rubin and Saxe, JJ.

We reject the landlord's argument that prior, unreviewed administrative orders granting maximum base rent (MBR) increases and denying a decreased services complaint precluded DHCR's finding herein that certain class "C", i.e., immediately hazardous, violations of record against the property had not been corrected, and DHCR's denial of the landlord's MCI applications on that ground. First, DHCR's Commissioner should not be required to adopt unreviewed errors made by a Rent Administrator. Second, there is no indication that the landlord's MBR applications were contested in any manner, or that the tenants' decreased services complaint in any manner involved the "C" violations in question. We also reject the landlord's argument that the finding of extant "C" violations is arbitrary and capricious. DHCR relied on a record of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Office of Code Enforcement, indicating that six "C" violations were found upon inspections conducted during the proceedings before the Rent Administrator, and remained of record during the time proceedings for administrative review were commenced. Inspection reports of this nature may be relied on by DHCR for purposes of determining whether an owner has met the statutory requirements for an MCI increase (cf., Matter of Barklee Realty Co. v New York State Div. of Hous. & Community Renewal, 159 AD2d 416, lv denied 76 NY2d 709).