Four-Year Rule of Limitation Doesn't Apply

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge after landlord started charging a separate fee for tenant's use of a parking space at the building. The DRA ruled for tenant. Although landlord didn't actually collect an overcharge, the DRA ruled that landlord couldn't collect a separate charge for the parking space because it had never done so in the past. Landlord appealed, claiming that the DRA improperly considered information from more than four years before tenant filed his complaint. The DHCR ruled against landlord. The four-year time limit applies to the review of rent history for overcharge calculations. It doesn't apply to the consideration of whether the parking space was a required service included in tenant's rent. The DHCR could consider any proof of parking space service provided since May 29, 1974. Tenant claimed that landlord provided a free parking space until 2005. The initial registration indicating a separate charge for parking didn't account for the period before April 1, 2000. And that registration was filed more than four years late, just a few months before landlord notified tenant in March 2005 of a separate parking charge. Tenant's lease also indicated that tenant's parking space was included in the rent.

Langsam Property Services Corp.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. VI110017RO (12/5/07) [2-pg. doc.]