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Principal Place of Residency Regulation
Rent Board Regulation 1.21, adopted in 2002, requires that a tenant be living in their apartments as their "principal place of residency" in order to remain under rent control protection. Note that a landlord must FIRST file a petition (and a hearing held) before a rent increase can be imposed for this. Tenants who will be away from their apartments for extended periods should make sure they make arrangements to check their mail in case the landlord files such a petition while the tenant is gone.
Rent Board Regulation Section 1.21:
"A tenant in occupancy is an individual who otherwise meets the definition of tenant as set forth in Ordinance Section 37.2(t) and who resides in a rental unit as his or her principal place of residence. Occupancy does not require that the individual be physically present in the unit at all times or continuously but it must be his or her usual place of return. Evidence that a unit is the individual's "principal place of residence" includes, but is not limited to, the following elements, a compilation of which lends greater credibility to the finding of principal place of residence whereas the presence of only one element may not support such a finding:
(1) The subject premises are listed as the individual's place of residence on any motor vehicle registration, driver's license, voter registration, or with any other public agency, including federal, state and local taxing authorities;
(2) utilities are billed to and paid by the individual at the subject premises;
(3) all of the of the individual's personal possessions have been moved into the subject premises;
(4) a homeowner's tax exemption for the individual has not been filed for a different property;
(5) the subject premises are the place the individual normally returns to as his/her home, exclusive of military service, hospitalization, vacation, family emergency, travel necessitated by employment or education, or other reasonable temporary periods of absence."Section 5.10
"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. "Click here for a Tenant Times article on how the Rent Board has interpreted some Principal Place of Residency cases.
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