Apartment Vacant on Base Date

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge in May 1994. Tenant's first rent, in May 1992, was $800 per month. The DRA ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed, claiming that the DRA improperly used the 1989 registered rent as the base rent when the proper base rent was the 1990 rent. But since the apartment was vacant in 1990, no rent was indicated in the 1990 registration. The DHCR ruled for landlord. The legal base date for calculating any overcharge was May 1990. Since there was no lawful rent on that date, the next lawful rent was the 1991 registered rent. This was the amount that must be used to calculate any overcharge. And since the 1991 registered rent of $900 was greater than tenant's first rent, there was no overcharge.

Bechtoldt Corp.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. IL710104RO (11/18/99) [2-pg. doc.]