No Overcharge Where Tenant's Rent Was Never Increased

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of rent overcharge in 2018. The DRA found no overcharge and dismissed the complaint in 2021. Tenant appealed and won in part. The DRA erred in setting a four-year base date as March 16, 2014. A 2018 court order, submitted to the DRA by tenant, granted tenant's request to file a DHCR overcharge complaint and that such complaint would be deemed to have been made on the date of the court order. Since the court order was dated March 4, 2015, the four-year base date was March 4, 2011. However, changing the base date didn't change the result, because tenant never paid more than the initial $990 per month charged when he moved in. Tenant's rent was never increased while he lived in the apartment. There was no sufficient evidence to support tenant's claim that landlord fraudulently schemed to deregulate the apartment. And whether landlord had illegally altered the apartment by subdividing it wasn't a claim that the DHCR could rule on in the overcharge proceeding. Whether an apartment can be legally rented or was illegally altered was a DOB matter.  

Mintzer: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. JS410009RT (12/3/21)[3-pg. document]