Landlord Must Refund $147,000 Rent Overcharge

Tenant complained of rent overcharge and claimed that her apartment had been improperly deregulated. The DRA ruled for tenant and directed landlord to refund $147,510, including interest and triple damages. Landlord appealed and lost. A prior DHCR order had determined that the legal regulated rent in March 2008 was $977 per month. The DRA asked landlord to show how the four-year base date rent was established based on the prior order. Landlord did so but the DRA froze the base date rent due to landlord's failure to properly file annual rent registrations for years 2014 through 2017. Landlord argued that the DRA didn't consider proof of individual apartment improvements (IAIs) that landlord had submitted. But landlord submitted no proof that would've increased the apartment's rent beyond what the DRA calculated. 

North Slope 341 Corp.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket Nos. GV210004RP, GS210022RO (3/13/19) [3-pg. doc.]