Tenant of Deregulated Apartment Can't Claim Overcharge

Facts: Tenant sued landlord for a rent overcharge. Tenant moved into apartment in 1993. In 1995 landlord applied for high-rent/high-income destabilization of tenant's apartment. The DRA ruled for landlord since tenant's monthly rent was over $2,000 and because tenant didn't answer landlord's petition. Tenant never filed a PAR challenging the deregulation. Two years later in her overcharge complaint, tenant claimed that landlord never sent a DC-2 notice advising her of the right to file a fair market rent appeal when the apartment first became subject to rent stabilization in 1987. Tenant claimed she was therefore entitled to claim a rent overcharge. And since the legal rent would now be less than $2,000, the deregulation order was invalid. Court: Tenant loses. Normally, the fact that landlord didn't send a DC-2 or RR-1 notice of the first stabilized rent would permit tenant to bring a rent overcharge proceeding. But tenant never challenged the 1995 order deregulating the apartment. The deregulation order contained a ruling, among other things, that tenant's legal rent was over $2,000.

McAnulty v. Townan Realty Co.: NYLJ, p. 27, col. 2 (6/25/97) (Sup. Ct. NY; McMahon, J)