Maximum Base Rent Never Set for Rent-Controlled Tenant

(Decision submitted by Jackie Halpern of the Manhattan law firm of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C., who represented the landlord.) Tenant claimed that she was subject to rent control and that landlord overcharged her. She asked the DHCR to set the MBR for her apartment. Tenant claimed that she moved into one apartment in 1960 at a rent of $202 per month. In 1979, she moved to another apartment in the building at landlord's request. Landlord gave her renewal leases and increased her rent despite a 1982 DHCR order finding that she was rent controlled. Landlord admitted that tenant was rent controlled, and said that it rolled tenant's rent back to $202 in May 2007. The DRA ruled for tenant. Landlord never filed for or received a computed MBR for the apartment. The DRA set the MBR at $202 per month effective July 1, 1979. Any rent collected above this amount for the period starting two years before tenant filed her complaint must be refunded with 6 percent interest.

Cimino v. Carnegie Hall Corporation: DRO Dckt. No. XC420001AD (5/29/09) [1-pg. doc.]