Landlord Proved Initial Registration Filed with DHCR

(Decision submitted by William J. Eberight of the Manhattan law firm of Borah Goldstein Altschuler & Schwartz, P.C., attorneys for the landlord.) Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled for tenant, finding a willful rent overcharge. The DRA reduced the rent from $480 to $250 and found a total overcharge, including triple damages, of $78,000 over a 10-year period. The DRA also froze tenant's rent, effective December 1984, because landlord didn't prove the filing and service of the 1984 initial apartment registration (RR-1). Landlord appealed. The DHCR's records showed that prior landlord had filed the RR-1 form. Landlord also submitted sworn statements from the building's managing agent and prior tenant attesting to the service and receipt of the RR-1. Under Policy Statement 92-3, the DHCR will consider all the facts and circumstances regarding proof of service and the filing of a pre-1988 RR-1. All other apartments in the building were properly registered. And the rent history showed that there was no actual rent overcharge. The DHCR ruled for landlord and revoked the overcharge finding.

Stuyvesant Owners, Inc.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. IE410330RO (8/27/96) [8-page document]