AIR CONDITIONERS

I am the owner of an eight family building.  Since we had some hot days, tenants began installing their air conditioners.  What is the rule regarding air conditioners?

                                             K.T., Long Island City

The NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) allows landlords to collect a rent surcharge from rent stabilized and rent controlled tenants who install air conditioners on or after October 1, 1985 even if the tenant installs his/her own air conditioner and pays for electricity.

If a tenant installs an air conditioner and pays for electricity and the air conditioner protrudes beyond the building's window line, a landlord may collect a $5.00 surcharge per month for each unit installed. This surcharge is collectible the month following the installation and it is not to be included in the base rent. You must charge a tenant the air conditioner surcharge at the time the units (s) are initially installed, or within a reasonable period of time (90-days) from the time the unit is installed or you waive the right to collect the surcharge. Once the air conditioner is installed and the surcharge is collected, the tenant cannot remove the air conditioner and demand the surcharge to be dropped without the landlord's permission. Therefore, the tenant must continue to pay the surcharge until he moves out of the apartment.

For a rent controlled tenant, the $5.00 surcharge is collectible after the owner files an “Owner's Application for Air conditioner Charges” (Form RN-79b) with the NYS DHCR and receives the order authorizing the surcharge.

When a landlord installs an air conditioner and the tenant pays for the electricity, the landlord can collect a permanent monthly increase equal to 1/40 th of the cost for each unit installed. The landlord MUST have written consent from the tenant before collecting this rent increase. This charge does become part of the Maximum Base Rent (MBR) of a rent controlled apartment or part of the base rent for a rent stabilized apartment.

If the OWNER PAYS ELECTRICITY and a rent stabilized OR rent controlled tenant installed the air conditioner on or after October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008, they can be charged a rent surcharge of $28.24* per month per air conditioner. The landlord can start collecting the surcharge from the rent stabilized tenant the month following the installation but DHCR must authorize the surcharge before the landlord can start collecting from the rent controlled tenant. If the rent controlled tenant installed the air conditioner on or after October 1, 1985 through September 30, 2007, the landlord can continue to collect the same rent surcharge from the time the air conditioner was originally installed. For the rent stabilized tenant, the rent surcharge must be increased from $23.88 to $28.24* per month per air conditioner.

*Surcharge may be adjusted upward or downward every October 1st for rent stabilized and rent controlled apartments with electricity included in the rent.