Four-Year Rule Not Applied to Pre-April 1, 1984 Complaint

March 1, 1999

LVT Number: 13034

Tenant filed a fair market rent appeal sometime before April 1, 1984. The DHCR ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. Landlord claimed that the four-year time limit applied to tenant's complaint and that the DHCR improperly looked back more than four years to determine the legal rent. The court and appeals court ruled against landlord. Even though landlord's appeal was brought after passage of the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997, which strictly applied the four-year time limit for rent overcharges, tenant's complaint was filed before April 1, 1984.

Tenant filed a fair market rent appeal sometime before April 1, 1984. The DHCR ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. Landlord claimed that the four-year time limit applied to tenant's complaint and that the DHCR improperly looked back more than four years to determine the legal rent. The court and appeals court ruled against landlord. Even though landlord's appeal was brought after passage of the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997, which strictly applied the four-year time limit for rent overcharges, tenant's complaint was filed before April 1, 1984. So, by law, the four-year time limit didn't apply.

Mark Greenberg Real Estate v. DHCR: NYLJ, p. 28, col. 3 (2/11/99) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Sullivan, JP, Rosenberger, Nardelli, Rubin, JJ)

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