Landlord Didn't Comply with Nine-Year-Old Rent Reduction Order

Rent-stabilized tenant sued landlord for rent overcharge. Tenant claimed that landlord failed to reduce and freeze tenant’s rent following the DHCR’s issuance of a rent reduction order in 1993. Tenant claimed that he never received the order. Landlord pointed out that the rent reduction order was nine years old at the time of tenant’s overcharge complaint. Landlord claimed that consideration of the rent reduction order was barred by the four-year time limit on overcharge complaints. The court ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to refund $23,000. Landlord appealed and won.

Tenant then appealed to a higher court and won. A rent overcharge claim is subject to a four-year limit and, by law, the court can’t look at the rental history of an apartment prior to the four-year period before the filing of tenant’s rent overcharge claim. Although the rent reduction order was issued more than four years before tenant’s overcharge claim was made, it remained in effect on the base date four years before tenant complained. So the legal rent on the base date four years before tenant complained was the rent set by the rent reduction order nine years earlier, not the rent charged on the base date.

Jenkins v. Fieldbridge Associates, LLC: NYLJ, 4/16/09, p. 26, col. 1 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Rivera, JP, Dillon, Covello, Angiolillo, JJ)