Four-Year Rule Doesn't Apply

Landlord sued to evict tenant and claimed that the apartment wasn't subject to rent regulation. Landlord claimed that the apartment had been deregulated due to a high rent of over $2,000 per month. Tenant claimed that she was rent stabilized and that the legal rent for her apartment was less than $2,000. Landlord argued that tenant couldn't challenge her rent because it was $2,160 per month on the base date four years earlier. The court ruled for tenant and dismissed the case. Tenant challenged not the amount of her rent, but the regulatory status of her apartment. The four-year rule didn't apply to a determination on the regulatory status. Landlord claimed that, in any event, tenant's rent was based on legal increases, including 1/40th rent increases for apartment renovations. But landlord didn't present acceptable proof of this claim. So the court found that the apartment was rent stabilized and dismissed the eviction proceeding.

Schwimer v. Peretz: Index No. 70639/2011, NYLJ No. 1202553430881 (Civ. Ct. Kings; 4/25/12; Marton, J)