1996 Rent Reduction Order Resulted in Overcharge for Claim Filed in 2016

Rent-stabilized tenant complained to the DHCR of rent overcharge in 2016. The DHCR ruled for tenant. A DHCR rent reduction order had been in effect since 1996. So, the rent freeze resulting from that order remained in effect throughout the four-year lookback period for tenant's overcharge complaint. Landlord then filed an Article 78 court appeal, claiming that the DHCR's decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court and appeals court ruled against landlord. In the case of Cintron v. Calogero, New York's highest court had ruled in 2012 that prior rent reduction orders remained in effect and were part of the rental history during an overcharge lookback period. There also was no indication that the DHCR failed to consider the effect of a 1997 partial rent restoration order in calculating the resulting rent overcharge. 

Matter of Simon Green, Inc. v. DHCR: Index No. 521043/20, 2021-07725, 2024 NY Slip Op 03052 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; 6/5/24; Connolly, JP, Chambers, Genovesi, Love, JJ)