Rent Frozen During Overcharge Period

Tenant sued landlord for a rent overcharge. Prior tenant was rent stabilized and paid $402 per month. Landlord charged tenant more than $2,000 per month and told tenant that the apartment was unregulated. The court ruled for tenant, finding most of landlord's documentation of 1/40th apartment improvements not credible. The court ruled that the legal rent was $1,390 and ordered landlord to refund $58,000, including triple damages for willful overcharge. Landlord and tenant both appealed. The court ruled against landlord. But the court agreed with tenant. Landlord filed false rent registrations in 2002 and 2003, listing the legal rent as $2,000. Since the legal rent was far less than that and landlord had intentionally filed false registrations, the 2002 and 2003 registrations were not "proper" and the rent should be frozen at $402, the last properly registered rent. The case was sent back to the lower court for recalculation of the total overcharge.

Bradbury v. 342 West 30th Street Corp.: NYLJ, 6/2/11, p. 26, col. 4 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Friedman, JP, Sweeny, DeGrasse, Abdus-Salaam, Roman, JJ)