DHCR Hikes Air-Conditioner Rent Surcharge for 2011-12

The Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) has just announced an increase in this year's air-conditioner rent surcharge for owners who pay for electricity. It set the monthly surcharge at $29.13, up from $26.83 last year. This year's increase reflects higher electricity costs as calculated by the Rent Guidelines Board's 2011 Price Index of Operating Costs issued in April 2011.

The latest surcharges appear in the DHCR's 26th annual update of Section B of Supplement No. 1 to Operational Bulletin 84-4. This year's update tells you what you can collect in the period beginning on or after Oct. 1, 2011, through Sept. 30, 2012, for an air conditioner installed in a tenant's apartment during this period. It also tells you how to adjust the rent surcharges you're already collecting from a rent-stabilized tenant for an air conditioner installed on or after Oct. 1, 1985, through Sept. 30, 2012.

There's no change in the $5 monthly surcharge you can collect when a rent-controlled or rent-stabilized tenant who pays for electricity installs an air conditioner that extends beyond the window line.

You can pick up a copy of the updated bulletin at your local borough rent office or download it from the DHCR's Web site, www.dhcrstate.ny.us.

Key cutoff: Oct. 1, 1985. The update doesn't apply to air conditioners installed before Oct. 1, 1985. If you've been collecting an authorized rent hike for an air conditioner installed before that date, you may continue to do so.

Use chart to calculate rent changes. We've prepared two charts to help you figure the rent surcharges and increases you're entitled to and when you can start collecting them: Rent-Stabilized Apartments: Air-Conditioner Rent Surcharge Chart, and Rent-Controlled Apartments: Air-Conditioner Rent Surcharge Chart.

Note that the amount you're entitled to collect from a tenant and when you can start collecting it depend on a variety of factors, including who pays for electricity, who installed the air conditioner, and when it was installed.

Notify rent-stabilized tenants about change in surcharge. When you send rent-stabilized tenants their first rent bill that includes the new $29.13 surcharge, it's smart to include a brief letter telling them that the surcharge has been raised based on the DHCR's most recent operational bulletin. This way, tenants won't be confused about why the surcharge has changed. 

Here’s a model letter you can include with your next rent bill to a rent-stabilized tenant if you pay for electricity and must increase the air-conditioner surcharge. It lets the rent-stabilized tenant know that you’re charging a higher surcharge based on the DHCR’s 26th annual update of Section B of Supplement No. 1 to Operational Bulletin 84-4.

Dear [insert tenant’s name]:

As of Oct. 1, 2011, your air-conditioner surcharge has been increased from $26.83 per month to $29.13 per month. This increase was made in accordance with the 26th annual update of Section B of Supplement No. 1 to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) Operational Bulletin 84-4. The air-conditioner surcharge on your rent bill is adjusted annually by the DHCR, depending on the cost of electricity.

[Insert your signature]

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