Four-Year Rule Applied to Long-Pending Case

(Decision submitted by Terry L. Hazen of the Manhattan law firm of Mitofsky & Shapiro, attorneys for the landlord.) Tenant complained of a rent overcharge in 1988. The DRA ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to refund $78,000, including triple damages. Landlord appealed, claiming there was no willful overcharge. Landlord's PAR form didn't include a cover page. Three years after filing, the DHCR rejected landlord's PAR and gave landlord a chance to refile within 20 days. Landlord refiled three weeks late. The DHCR rejected the refiled PAR as late, and landlord appealed. The court revoked the default order and sent the case back to the DHCR. In 1999, the DHCR decided landlord's PAR. The DHCR ruled against landlord on the issue of triple damages. But the rent was recalculated based on the four-year time limit that now applied under the Rent Registration Reform Act of 1997 to this long-pending case. The total overcharge was reduced to $26,750.

Knobler: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. NE410016RP (12/30/99) [4-pg. doc.]