No Fraud by Landlord Where Tenant Paid Same Rent Since Base Rent Date

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of rent overcharge. The DRA ruled against tenant, finding no overcharge. Tenant paid $1,150 per month on the base rent date and landlord never collected more than that amount since the base date. Tenant appealed, arguing that the DHCR should look back more than four years due to fraud by the landlord. The DHCR ruled against tenant. The DRA correctly found that the base rent was a legal regulated rent and that tenant had at all times been treated as rent stabilized. There was no reason to consider fraud since tenant made no claims of a fraudulent scheme to deregulate tenant's apartment before the DRA. Tenant also presented no reasonable excuse for failing to raise the issue of fraud before the DRA. And there was no proof of fraud in any event. A pre-base date rent increase in rent alone is insufficient to prove fraud. And inconsistencies in rent registrations also wasn't enough to prove fraud since there was no proof that prior or current landlord had attempted to deregulate the apartment based on the rent level. Tenant was at all times registered as rent stabilized, had been offered rent-stabilized renewal leases, and had paid the same rent since 2008.

Castro: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. FP210062RT (1/29/18) [4-pg. doc.]