RENT BOARD PASSES NEW ROOMMATE REGS
In March of 2005, the Rent Board Commissioners passed Rules and
Regulations Section 6.15D to compliment the Gonzalez Roommate Legislation
that became law on January 2, 2005. The Gonzalez Roommate Legislation
requires landlords to permit tenants to move in the following categories of
relations: (1) the tenant’s spouse/domestic partner; (2) the children,
parents, grandchildren, grandparents, and siblings of the tenants
(“Relatives”); and (3) the spouse or domestic partner of the Relatives. Even
if a lease prohibits subletting or assignment, or limits the number of
occupants in a unit, a tenant may be allowed to move in persons who can be
classified in one of these three categories (“Family Members”).
The Rent Board spent January through March drafting guidelines to
implement this significant legislation. The result is Section 6.15D, which
sets forth the following requisites for landlords and their tenants who seek
to override the rental agreement by moving in Family Members.
First, an owner is deemed to waive any objection to the addition of a
Family Member if the tenant makes an initial written request to the landlord
for permission to add a Family Member and the landlord fails to respond in
writing within fourteen days after receiving notice. To this end, a landlord
who fails to timely object to written notification by the tenant, or who
“unreasonably” withholds consent to the addition of a Family Member, cannot
evict the tenant for violating a lease covenant prohibiting a sublet or
assignment.
Section 6.15D then goes on to define unreasonable withholding of consent.
At the onset, a landlord is precluded outright from denying a tenant
permission to move in a minor child who is a Family Member. If the Family
Member is not a minor, then the tenant is required to satisfy six criteria:
(1) the tenant must make a written request to the landlord and describe the
familial relationship of Family Member moving in; (2) the Family member must
comply with the landlord’s request to complete the standard form
application, or provide sufficient information to allow the landlord to
conduct a typical background check; (3) the tenant must allow the landlord
five business days to complete the background check; (4) the Family Member
must then satisfy the reasonable application standards of the landlord
(except that creditworthiness may not be a basis for refusal if the Family
Member is not obligated to pay any portion of the rent); (5) the Family
Member will agree, if requested by the landlord, to be bound by the terms of
the rental agreement; and (6) total occupancy of the rental unit will not
exceed the lesser of (a) two persons per studio, three per one-bedroom unit,
four per two-bedroom unit, six per three- bedroom unit, or eight per
four-bedroom unit, or (b) the number of occupants permitted by state or
local law.
Second, this rule and regulation states that an unreasonable refusal to
consent to the addition of a Family Member will permit a tenant to file a
petition for decrease in services with the Rent Board. A successful petition
equates to a lowering of the base rent until the decreased service is
restored. Moreover, either a landlord or a tenant may file a petition with
the Rent Board to determine the reasonableness of a tenant’s request to move
in a Family Member, and such a petition will be expedited and heard quickly.
It is this author’s opinion that Section 6.15D represents a fair and
reasonable effort by the Rent Board to define the parameters of the Gonzalez
Roommate Legislation. Rather than ignore the substantial vagueness and
ambiguity created by this law’s passage, the Rent Board has set forth clear
and concise guidelines for both tenants and landlords to follow. Indeed,
many landlords have expressed satisfaction with the fact that now a written
standard governs how many people can live in a studio/one-bedroom, etc. In
addition, a tenant cannot simply move in a Family Member without subjecting
that person to an investigative process. And if a landlord believes that the
Family Member is not in fact related to the tenant in the manner
represented, the landlord can pursue affirmative relief by filing a petition
with the Rent Board. While it remains to be seen if this law will even
survive a judicial challenge, at least concise rules have now been laid
down.
--David Wasserman
– David Wasserman
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