Landlord Never Filed Original Registration

Landlord sued rent-stabilized tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant asked the court to dismiss the case because landlord hadn't complied with a prior court order to give her a copy of the initial rent registration form with proof of service. The court gave landlord 20 days to produce a copy of the form and proof of service. Landlord didn't supply tenant with the forms within the 20 days. So tenant again asked the court to dismiss the case. Landlord stated that he'd filed the form with the DHCR, but couldn't find his copy of it. Tenant wins. Landlord didn't produce the documents by the deadline, so he lost the right to prove that he'd filed the initial rent registration form with the DHCR. And, since landlord couldn't prove he'd filed the form, the rent gets rolled back to the last rate under rent control.

Garramone v. Corchado: NYLJ, p. 32, col. 2 (6/15/94) (Civ. Ct. Kings; Rivera, J)