Six-Year Rule Applied to Overcharge Claim Pending When HSTPA Took Effect

Landlord condominium unit owner sued to evict tenant from the unit. Tenant claimed that he was rent stabilized because the building received J-51 tax benefits and that he had been overcharged. The court ruled for tenant. Tenant later asked the court to reconsider his claim based on the amendment of the rent stabilization law by the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA). Landlord argued that the only issue remaining before the court at the time of tenant's request was a mathematical calculation of the overcharge based on the four-year rule applied in the court's December 2017 decision and order, and that there was no pending claim on June 14, 2019, that would permit applying HSTPA.

The court ruled against landlord, finding that HSTPA applied to the overcharge claim, which was still pending, notwithstanding the parties' agreement as to the legal regulated rent. But since the court had already ruled that the rent overcharge wasn't willful, tenant couldn't apply the six-year lookback period that now applied to the overcharge claim to apply triple damages. Only the overcharge amount, as well as tenant's attorneys fees, could now go back six years.

Cenpark Realty LLC v. Appelbaum: Index No. 152938/2014, 2020 NY Slip Op 30023(U) (Sup. Ct. NY; 1/6/20; Kennedy, J)