Administrative Appeal of Naum and Susanne Medevoy
This decision from the DHCR concerns a Rent Stabilized Apartment in a building that had received a J-51 tax abatement. The abatement had expired and the apartment was otherwise still subject to the Rent Stabilization Law. We filed a Luxury Deregulation Petition and, over the course of 5 years, the Agency gave the tenants at least four (4) opportunities to respond. Each time the tenants, represented by counsel, only responded 2 times to the extent of stating that the apartment was not subject to deregulation because of the past J-51. The Agency issued an Order of Deregulation citing tenant’s default in failure to respond. The tenants filed a PAR and the Agency affirmed the Order of Deregulation explaining that this apartment was subject to deregulation, once the J-51 had expired and, further, the tenant’s answers were essentially non-responsive (as they never answered the questions regarding the aggregate household income).