Landlord Overcharged Improperly Deregulated Tenant in J-51 Building

Landlord sued to evict tenant, claiming that tenant was unregulated. Tenant claimed that he was rent stabilized and that landlord had overcharged him. The court ruled for tenant, dismissed the case, and awarded tenant $102,000 for rent overcharge. Landlord appealed and lost. The trial court properly looked back more than four years to establish a proper base rent since there was sufficient indicia of landlord fraud. Landlord had increased the rent from $604 to $1,627 in 2006, and ceased filing annual rent registrations between 2000 and 2005. The building received J-51 tax benefits and was improperly deregulated in 2010, after the Court of Appeals issued the Roberts decision. Landlord in fact claimed the apartment was vacancy deregulated when tenant moved in, in 2010. Landlord also failed to submit sufficient documentation of individual apartment improvements (IAIs) it claimed were done before tenant moved into the apartment. The trial court also properly gave tenant a rent abatement for inadequate hot water.

East 17th LLC v. McCusker: 63 Misc.3d 134(A), 2019 NY Slip Op 50469(U) (App. T. 1 Dept.; 4/5/19; Shulman, PJ, Ling-Cohan, Edmead, JJ)