Tenant Didn't Have Written Lease

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to refund $1,950, including triple damages. Landlord appealed and lost. Tenant had been in the apartment without a lease and with no rent increase for many years. On the base date, four years before tenant filed her complaint, tenant had no lease. Landlord subsequently raised tenant's rent from $290 to $326. Landlord claimed that tenant refused to sign the lease that it offered tenant, which didn't include the provisions governing the rights of landlord and tenants under the Rent Stabilization Code. But the DHCR ruled that to decide the rent overcharge complaint, it doesn't matter whether the lease offered by landlord was proper. Tenant had been occupying the apartment as a month-to-month tenant without a lease through May 2005. So the rent increases must be calculated using the base rent of $290 per month. By charging $326 per month, landlord had collected a rent overcharge.

Johnson: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. TF210062RO (9/27/05) [3-pg. doc.]