No Fraud Where Landlord Relied on Form RSC Provision

Tenant in building receiving J-51 tax exemption benefits complained of rent overcharge. The DRA ruled against tenant and dismissed the complaint. The DRA found that the tenant’s $3,200 monthly rent was lawful and that there had been no overcharge since the base rent date four years before tenant's complaint. Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant claimed fraud by landlord and that the DHCR should have used its default method to set the rent. But when tenant signed a vacancy lease in 2011, the Rent Stabilization Code permitted landlord to charge the first tenant after a lengthy period of apartment vacancy a first rent that wasn't based on any preceding rental history. So, there was no fraud in how landlord set tenant’s rent, and the $3,200 rent charged was in fact lower than the legal regulated rent of $3,697 that the DHCR calculated by looking at prior rent history. Landlord also submitted proof of IAI increases. 

Barbee: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. DP410005RT (2/12/16) [4-pg. doc.]