Rent-Controlled Tenant Must Seek Overcharge Determination from Court, Not DHCR

Rent-controlled tenant complained of rent overcharge. The DRA issued a computer printout of the apartment's Maximum Collectible Rent (MCR) history, including the Jan. 1, 2017, MCR of $2,433. The DRA advised tenant that, if landlord had collected an overcharge, he could sue landlord for damages in court. Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant claimed that the DRA didn't address his claim for overcharge for the period of Jan. 1, 2015, to the present and that the 2017 MCR was incorrect. The DHCR found that tenant didn't appeal the order that the DRA issued in August 2015, made effective Jan. 1, 2015, which set the MCR for that year. Therefore, tenant couldn't challenge the 2015 rent through her new overcharge complaint. And the 2017 MCR was properly based on the 2015 MCR. If there was any resulting overcharge, tenant had to go to court. Unlike rent stabilization, rent control law and regulations didn't provide for the DHCR to determine rent overcharge claims.

Galarza: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. FV420021RT (7/11/18) [3-pg. doc.]