Four-Year Rule Applies to Initial Registration

(Decision submitted by David I. Paul of the Queens law firm of Rappaport, Hertz, Cherson & Rosenthal, P.C., attorneys for the landlord.) Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant claimed a rent overcharge. DHCR's records indicated that the apartment was initially registered as rent-stabilized in April 1992. But tenant claimed the RR-1 wasn't sent to the first stabilized tenant or filed. Tenant moved into the apartment in February 1995. The court ruled against tenant. The Rent Stabilization Law, as amended by the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997, states that if the amount of rent stated in the annual rent registration statement filed four years prior to the most recent registration statement isn't challenged within four years of its filing, neither that rent nor service of the registration can be challenged. The law was made applicable to any pending court action. So tenant's overcharge claim was time-barred.

M&N Mgmt. Corp. v. Solano: Index No. 74161/97 (9/22/97) (Civ. Ct. NY; Arber, J) [4-page document]