DHCR Reopens Tenant's Denied Rent Overcharge Claim

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of rent overcharge. The DRA ruled against tenant, who appealed and claimed that landlord engaged in a fraudulent scheme to deregulate the apartment. The DHCR sent the case back to the DRA for reconsideration. The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA) extended the base date for overcharge consideration to at least six years and applied to any claims pending or filed on or after June 14, 2019. So the DRA's setting of a Sep. 5, 2013, based date was no longer accurate. Landlord argued that tenant wasn't permitted to renew his overcharge claim under HSTPA after the DRA made a ruling. But the DRA's decision wasn't a final administrative determination. And tenant's PAR was timely, filed on July 11, 2019, after HSTPA went into effect. The DRA would reconsider the matter, including landlord's claim that there could be no overcharge because tenant paid no rent.

Gassama: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. HS410014RT (1/9/20) [3-pg. doc.]