No Proof of Base Date Vacancy

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled for tenant and imposed triple damages because landlord didn't prove the overcharge wasn't willful. The legal rent on the base date was set using the DHCR's default method because landlord didn't submit rent history records for the base date rent. Landlord appealed, claiming that the apartment was vacant on the base date, four years before tenant filed his complaint. Therefore, the base rent should be the next rent charged after the base date. In addition, landlord argued that the DHCR should use the lease in effect before the base date to calculate the next legal rent. The DHCR ruled against landlord. The DHCR can't review rent records dating back more than four years when determining the legal base date rent. And since landlord claimed that the apartment was vacant on the base date, landlord was required to submit a base date rent ledger to prove that claim. The DRA asked landlord to do so, but landlord never submitted any record.

Mazza: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. WH210048RO (10/9/08) [3-pg. doc.]