Apartment Vacant on Base Date

Tenants complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled against tenants because their initial rent was $2,200 and the apartment therefore was deregulated. Tenants appealed. They claimed that the prior tenant's rent was $754 and that landlord didn't complete renovations that would have justified a substantial rent increase. Tenants also had claimed in their complaint that landlord didn't file timely registration statements for the apartment for 2001, 2002, or 2003. The DHCR ruled against tenants. The base rent date was Aug. 1, 2002, four years before tenants filed their complaint. The apartment was vacant on that date, and tenants were the first tenants to move into the apartment after that, on Sept. 1, 2002. Although the apartment was registered with the DHCR in 2000 at a legal regulated rent of $754, this was before the base date and couldn't be considered. Tenants also claimed that in June 2006, landlord fraudulently filed apartment registrations for the years 2001 and 2002. But this didn't change the four-year review period.

Ramos/Peterson: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. UL110028RT (2/27/07) [4-pg. doc.]