Public Employee Press

Part 2 in a series on state rent regulation services employees.
ON the JOB
Stopping rent rip-offs

Darryl Adams brings more than 25 years of experience to his job as director of the Rent Overcharge Operations Unit at New York State Homes & Community Renewal, which oversees rent laws and regulations.

With a staff of 13, the unit carries heavy responsibilities. In a typical week, it receives 150 complaints from tenants who report that they are being overcharged for their rent.

"My job is to make sure the complaints we receive from tenants are handled appropriately," Adams said. "When we get the applications, we need to make certain the information is correct and the right documents are included."

Adams, the vice president of Rent Regulation Services Employees Local 1359, joined the agency as a Rent Examiner shortly after finishing his studies at the State University of New York in New Paltz, where he majored in business and economics and minored in African American studies. Over the years, he worked his way up to the title of Housing and Community Renewal Specialist 1.

Virtually all the staffers of the unit at 92-31 Union Hall St. in Jamaica, Queens, are Local 1359 members. They include clerical workers, Housing and Community Renewal Specialists, Rent Examiners, and Jr. Rent Examiners.

The unit is responsible for processing appeals from tenants and landlords and documenting overcharge cases that are referred to Rent Examiners and attorneys for rulings.

Cases often require exhaustive documentation. A Rental Overcharge Complaint must include the name and address of the tenant, years of residency, copies of leases, evidence of rent payments and specific grievances, including the failure to renew a lease. The unit does not deal with service issues, such as repair work and health and safety violations.

The unit is supposed to process the complaints within 30 days. But the agency often takes up to six months to render a decision. Tenants and owners have 35 days to file an appeal, which is known as a petition for administrative review.

When the agency finds a tenant is overcharged, the landlord can be ordered to pay up to triple the damages, going back two years. Refunds can be retroactive for four years.

"The market for affordable housing is weak now," said Adams, reflecting on the agency's mission of enforcing rent stabilization and rent control laws. "Tenants are being priced out. Our role is basically making sure that tenants are able to have affordable housing."