Queens has the City's largest Korean population, but many tenants in the area allege they are being cheated by landlords who raise rents by overstating the cost of building improvements. Recently, there have been many reports of landlords of rent controlled or rent subsidized buildings who have fraudulently sought City's Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) permission to raise rents because of Major Capital Improvements (MCI) improvements, such as repairs to boilers, windows, electrical wiring, plumbing, roofs, etc.
An "MCI" rent increase has tenants sharing costs for repairs or improvements. In such cases, the landlord customarily holds off on large rent increases; however, if granted approval by the DHCR, permanent rent increases can be imposed to offset the cost of work. When an owner submits an MCI application, DHCR notifies the tenants and gives them an opportunity to submit written responses to the application. At that time, the tenants or the tenant association of the building must respond in writing with any objections or refusals to meet the rent increase, or demands for more time to investigate the matter. When DHCR has the completed MCI application and has reviewed the tenants' requests, it may require the landlord to provide further documentation before issuing a decision to grant a rent increase for the total, or a part of the amount requested, or reject the claim altogether. The owner and the tenants will be notified by DHCR of the amount of the rent increase per room and related terms and conditions in a written order. The rent increase then becomes a permanent addition to the rent.
Most of the cases of illegal overcharging follow a pattern; either the landlord requests an increase in an amount far beyond what rent control or rent stabilization laws allow, or the landlord makes repeated requests for the same work. The landlords often feel they can
get away with this because the tenants often do not know what work was really done, or the actual costs of the work.
Benjamin Dulchin, the deputy director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD) says, "We respect the logic of encouraging landlords to make improvements, but the law must make these reasonable, and discourage fraud."
Many Korean tenants in Queens reside in rent stabilized buildings, but are not aware of the importance of DHCR notices that often are ignored. Sometimes a landlord might raise rents by small increments, such as $10, which then become permanent with DHCR approval. In the more egregious cases, a landlord will simply request the MCI increase from the tenant without having carried out any improvements or renovations, and without any DHCR approval.
Ms. Hye Joo Cho, an expert on housing law, who works at Minkwon Center for Korean-American Community, said, "The MCI rent increases are slight at first, so most tenants don't oppose them, but if tenants fail to respond to DHCR notices, subsequent and bigger rent increases can follow legally, almost without end."
Tenant advocates strongly suggest that, in order to avoid unwanted or possibly illegal rent increases, any demand for a rent increase, especially any letter concerning a rent increase that comes from DHCR, be responded to in writing, in a timely manner.
