Four-Year Rule Takes Precedence over Settlement Agreement

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. Landlord argued that the amount of tenant's legal rent had been resolved in a prior court settlement agreement. The DRA ruled against tenant. Tenant appealed and won. Landlord and tenant had signed a settlement agreement in a 2002 eviction case. Landlord had bought tenant's cooperative apartment in a foreclosure sale and increased tenant's rent from $423 to $775. Landlord and tenant agreed that tenant's first rent, effective Aug. 1, 2002, was $775 per month. But tenant didn't have an attorney, and besides, the DHCR wasn't a party to the agreement, so it wasn't bound by it. Using the four-year rule and applying it to tenant's DHCR complaint, the DRA properly found that tenant's base rent was $423, not $775.

Pinard: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. TG620001RP (12/15/05) [8-pg. doc.]