Rent Board Rules and Regulations: Part V - Landlord Petition for Arbitration

Section 5.10 Who must file

(Amended June 5, 2001)

            Landlords who seek to impose rent increases which exceed the rent increase limitations set forth in Section 4 above, must petition for an arbitration hearing. Landlords who seek a determination that a tenant is not a tenant in occupancy pursuant to Section 1.21 above must petition for an arbitration hearing prior to issuing a notice of rent increase on such grounds. Any petition seeking a determination that a tenant is not a tenant in occupancy shall be expedited.

Section 5.11 Information to Accompany Landlord Petition

            Petitions shall be filed on a form supplied by the Board. The petitions shall be accompanied by:  1) a statement as to why the landlord believes a rent increase should be allowed, together with supporting documentation; 2) the landlord shall also submit sufficient copies of the petition for distribution to each tenant.

Section 5.12 Time of Filing Petition

            The landlord must file a petition before giving legal notice of a rent increase which exceeds the limitations set forth in Part 4 above. The notice shall be in conformance with the requirements set forth in Section 4.10 and shall further include the dollar amount requested which exceed those limitations. The petition may be filed at any time during the calendar year.

Section 5.13 Imposition of Rent Increases Granted by the Administrative Law Judge

(Subsection (a) renumbered April 25, 1995, effective February 1, 1995; Subsection (b) added April 25, 1995, effective February 1, 1995)

            (a)        Once a completed petition has been filed, the landlord may serve a legal notice of the proposed rent increase. That portion of the requested rental increase which exceeds the limitations set forth in Section 4 above shall be inoperative until a decision by the Administrative Law Judge is rendered. A landlord may choose instead not to serve legal notice of a proposed rent increase until after the decision of the Administrative Law Judge is rendered. In any event, except in extraordinary circumstances as determined by the Board, no rent increase granted by the Administrative Law Judge shall become effective until the tenant's anniversary date. For example:

                        (1)        Tenant's anniversary date is June 1, landlord seeks to impose a rent increase exceeding the limitations set forth in Part 4 above on that date. Landlord files a petition during the month of April and on May 1, gives tenant legal notice of the rent increase. That portion of the increase which exceeds the limitations is inoperative until the Administrative Law Judge renders his or her decision on June 15. The requested increase is granted effective as of June 1. The tenant is ordered to pay the increase as well as the amount owing, on July 1.

                        (2)        Tenant's anniversary date is June 1, and on that date, tenant received a 4 percent rent increase. On August 10, landlord files a petition seeking approval to impose a rent increase based upon increased costs. A hearing is held October 1, and the requested increase is approved on October 15, landlord gives legal notice on April 1, of the approved rent increase to take effect on June 1.

            (b)        The landlord need not impose a rent increase (including a certified capital improvement) on the first opportunity after it is granted. Rather, the landlord may impose all or a portion of any such rent increase at a later date upon giving proper notice.

Section 5.14 Administrative Dismissal

(Added July 15, 1997)

            Notwithstanding the acceptance of a petition, if any of the following conditions exist, the Board shall dismiss the landlord's petition for arbitration without prejudice and shall not schedule a hearing. Prior to dismissal of a petition, the Board shall mail to the petitioner a written notice of intention to dismiss stating the specific applicable reason(s) for such dismissal. The petitioner shall have thirty (30) days from the date of mailing of the notice to cure the defects in the petition prior to dismissal.

            If the petitioner fails to cure the defects in a timely and proper manner, and the petition is administratively dismissed, the petitioner may file an appeal to the Board or file a new petition for arbitration. Appeals shall be governed by the applicable provisions of Ordinance Section 37.8(f).

            The filing of a new petition shall be in accordance with the Procedure for Landlord Petitioners set forth in Ordinance Section 37.8(c), including the requirement that a new notice of rent increase must be mailed or delivered to the tenants after the new petition is filed. Any previous notice of rent increase, or portion thereof, based on a landlord's petition that was administratively dismissed, shall be null and void as to that portion of the rent increase notice only; other lawful portions of the rent increase notice which were not related to the landlord's dismissed petition shall remain valid.

            A petition may be administratively dismissed in the following circumstances:

            (a)        Operating and Maintenance Expense Petitions

                        (1)        Where all required pages of the petition have not been submitted or filled out properly;

                        (2)        Where the documents submitted are not clearly divided into two groups, one representing the Year 1 documents and one representing the Year 2 documents;

                        (3)        Where the documents within each year are not grouped together according to the categories listed in the landlord petition form;

                        (4)        Where the documents submitted do not clearly show the time period covered and/or the expense being claimed and no written explanation of the missing information is provided with the documentation;

                        (5)        Where necessary documents are omitted or missing and there is no written explanation of what attempts were made to obtain the omitted or missing documents and why the documents could not be submitted;

                        (6)        Where the petitioner submits complete documentation for only one or two categories to the exclusion of the other categories;

                        (7)        Where the total amounts claimed for each category in each year do not correspond to the evidence submitted.

            (b)        Comparable Rent Petitions

                        (1)        Where all required pages of the petition have not been submitted or filled out properly;

                        (2)        Where an adequate explanation of the situation justifying the petition (e.g., extraordinary circumstances) is not provided;

                        (3)        Where evidence establishing that the rent for the unit is significantly below those of comparable units in the same general area is not provided;

                        (4)        Where evidence of reasonably "comparable" units is not provided (i.e., length of occupancy of the current tenant, size and physical condition of the unit and building, and services paid by the tenant).

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