No Triple Damages for Overcharge Found Through Adjustment of Pre-Base Date Rent

(Decision submitted by Ronald S. Languedoc of the Manhattan law firm of Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Joseph LLP, attorneys for the tenant.)

Tenant complained of rent overcharge. The DRA ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to refund $1,156, including interest, after prior refund. The DRA reviewed the pre-base date rent history and, since tenant was the first rent-stabilized tenant of the apartment in 2000, reduced the initial legal regulated rent to the preferential rent charged. The DRA also directed landlord to file rent registrations for 2012 through 2015 and to amend the 2016 registration.

Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant argued that the DRA incorrectly granted rent increases for periods before the base date when the apartment wasn't properly registered, and that the overcharge was willful. The rulings of some courts concerning the effect of missing rent registrations didn't apply in this case because the building didn't receive J-51 benefits. The DHCR found that the overcharge wasn't willful because it resulted from review of a pre-base date rent and a narrow issue concerning the initial rent. The 2000 lease also was executed before 2014 Rent Stabilization Code amendments that clarified that the DHCR could look back more than four years to investigate a preferential rent. And landlord had refunded most of the overcharge in response to the complaint.

Bowlus: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. FT210038RT (5/31/18) [7-pg. doc.]