Provided that a dwelling is registered in accordance with § 155-30 upon the vacation of a residential apartment unit by a tenant, the apartment unit shall become decontrolled and exempt from the provisions of this chapter for the new tenant's initial rental; provided, however, that said rental shall be limited to an increase of 25% over the last rental paid by the tenant who voluntarily vacated the rental unit, exclusive of any capital improvement surcharge that is a component of said last rental. However, any additional rental increase beyond the initial rental of the new tenant shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter. For the purpose of any computations under this chapter, the initial base rent charged to the new tenant under this section shall be considered the base rent.
The landlord shall be entitled to decontrol the apartment unit
under this article only under the following circumstances:
A.
If the tenant vacates the apartment voluntarily without harassment,
duress or unreasonable pressure from the landlord or his agents or
if the tenant is legally evicted.
B.
If the tenant vacates the apartment as a result of a court order from a court of competent jurisdiction. This ground shall not be available to a landlord who receives a court order to dispossess a tenant based upon the tenant holding over and continuing in possession of the premises after the expiration of his term. Whenever there is an issue as to the circumstances under which a tenant has vacated an apartment unit, that issue shall be determined by the Rent Control Board after a hearing. If the Board finds that a landlord is seeking to decontrol or has decontrolled an apartment unit and the tenant has vacated the unit under circumstances other than those set forth in this section, the Rent Board may rescind the decontrol of the apartment unit, and the rent shall revert to that rental on the apartment unit prior to the vacation of the apartment, and prosecute the landlord for violation of the chapter under § 155-21.
[Amended 4-3-2023 by Ord. No. B-549]
When any apartment unit is decontrolled under this article,
the landlord shall file a certificate, provided by the Rent Leveling
Board, including a filing fee in the amount of $50, indicating the
name of the vacating tenant, the existing rental, the circumstances
under which the tenant vacated the apartment unit, the name of the
new tenant, the new rental and the effective date of the new rental.
