Four-Year Time Limit Applied to Tenant's Claim

May 31, 1999

LVT Number: 13288

Tenant sued landlord for a rent overcharge. The court ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. Tenant's court case had been filed on Dec. 1, 1995, and the court had awarded an overcharge refund back to April 1, 1991, the date tenant moved into the apartment. The appeals court ruled for landlord. Under the Rent Stabilization Law, as amended by the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997, recovery of overcharges is strictly limited to the four-year period before tenant starts its case. So any refund could date back only to Dec. 1, 1991. Tenant's claim wasn't otherwise barred.

Tenant sued landlord for a rent overcharge. The court ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. Tenant's court case had been filed on Dec. 1, 1995, and the court had awarded an overcharge refund back to April 1, 1991, the date tenant moved into the apartment. The appeals court ruled for landlord. Under the Rent Stabilization Law, as amended by the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997, recovery of overcharges is strictly limited to the four-year period before tenant starts its case. So any refund could date back only to Dec. 1, 1991. Tenant's claim wasn't otherwise barred. The amended law bars a challenge of the rent set forth in an annual rent registration statement more than four years from its filing. So tenant's challenge of the rent registration filed on Dec. 2, 1991, is on time.

Negron v. Goldman: NYLJ, p. 26, col. 2 (5/4/99) (App. T. 1 Dept.; Parness, PJ, McCooe, Freedman, JJ)

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