DHCR Finds No Overcharge and No Indication of Rent Fraud

Rent-stabilized tenant complained in 2018 of rent overcharge. The DRA ruled against tenant, finding no overcharge since the base rent date. The DRA did direct landlord to amend the 2014 apartment registration to reflect its findings. Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant claimed rent fraud and also argued that the post-HSTPA six-year lookback period should apply in any event. But the Court of Appeals' 2020 decision in Regina Metro Co. v. DHCR made clear that the four-year lookback period applied to overcharge claims filed before June 14, 2019. While landlord gave tenant a preferential renewal rent at some point, it preserved the higher legal regulated rent through lease riders. Landlord also properly discontinued the preferential rent, which it accepted between 2007 and 2015. Review of the record also showed no proof of a fraudulent scheme to deregulate the apartment. Tenant's claim that landlord took incorrect guideline increases prior to the base date didn't rise to the level of fraud. There also was no proof of fraud in connection with landlord's late filing of 2014 and 2016 rent registrations.

Gallagher: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. JU210043RT (12/15/21)[5-pg. document]