Tenant Claims Fraud by Landlord in Setting Rent

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled against tenant, finding no overcharge. Tenant appealed. He claimed that when he moved into the apartment landlord fraudulently concealed the apartment's regulatory status. Also, the vacancy lease he signed wasn't a rent-stabilized lease and didn't include the Rent Stabilization Lease Rider.  The DHCR reopened the case and sent it back to the DRA for reconsideration. In the case of Grimm v. DHCR, New York's highest court had ruled that the DHCR must look at the rental history of an apartment more than four years prior to the filing of an overcharge complaint when it appeared that there may have been fraud by the landlord in setting the rent under a lease. And landlord failed to prove that it sent tenant an initial lease rider explaining how the initial base date rent was calculated. 

Brewer: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. YL410005RT (12/26/12) [2-pg. doc.]