Alleged Rent Ledger Was Insufficient to Prove Base Date Rent

Rent-stabilized tenant complained to the DHCR of rent overcharge. The DRA ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to refund $12,355, including triple damages. Landlord appealed and lost. The DRA correctly applied a default formula to set the four-year base date rent because landlord didn't produce a lease or rent ledger dating back to the four-year base date. Landlord produced a rent ledger that it submitted with its PAR. But the DHCR won't accept new evidence on appeal without a reasonable excuse. And landlord offered no reasonable explanation for not submitting any rent ledger since the case commenced in 2017. The case was pending for five years before decided by the DRA. In addition, even if accepted for review, the alleged rent ledger contained no heading or other indication that it was a ledger maintained in the normal course of business. The names and rents listed on the document were blurred, and the column presumably listing a preferential rent paid was totally obliterated. 

Nieuw Amsterdam Property Mgmt. LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. KP210036RO (7/12/22)[3-pg. document]