Four-Year Time Limit Applied to Tenant's Claim

September 30, 1998

LVT Number: 12686

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DHCR ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. The court ruled against landlord in April 1997, finding that the DHCR's decision was reasonable. Landlord appealed again and won. While landlord's appeal was pending, the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997 had gone into effect. This amended the Rent Stabilization Law to more strictly apply the four-year time limit for rent overcharge complaints. The amended law applied to all pending cases.

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DHCR ruled for tenant, and landlord appealed. The court ruled against landlord in April 1997, finding that the DHCR's decision was reasonable. Landlord appealed again and won. While landlord's appeal was pending, the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997 had gone into effect. This amended the Rent Stabilization Law to more strictly apply the four-year time limit for rent overcharge complaints. The amended law applied to all pending cases. Tenant's complaint was filed in September 1990, and the DHCR's overcharge calculation had referred to the 1985 rent for the apartment. Under the amended law, the DHCR could look back only to September 1986. This reduced the amount of overcharge.

Pechock v. DHCR: NYLJ, p. 27, col. 1 (9/21/98) (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Ellerin, JP, Tom, Mazzarelli, Saxe, JJ)

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