Tenant Who Claims Fraud Can Get Pre-Base Date Document Production

Landlord sued to evict tenant for nonpayment of rent. Tenant claimed that her apartment had been improperly deregulated from rent stabilization and that landlord was overcharging her. The court granted tenant's request for pretrial questioning and document production. Tenant disputed landlord's claim that it spent $20,800 on individual apartment improvements (IAIs) before she moved in. And the court can order production of rent history records that predate the four-year look-back period before tenant raised the overcharge claim to determine whether an apartment was properly deregulated. Tenant pointed out that the apartment was registered as rent stabilized until 2006, then registered as permanently exempt in 2007, and that landlord's decision to charge preferential rents of $800 in 2005 and $900 in 2006 after IAIs were done was inconsistent. Tenant presented ample need for discovery.

MN Baldwin Isham LLC v. Carpenter: Index No. 86772/2015, NYLJ No. 1202801006656 (Civ. Ct. NY; 9/22/17; Asforis, J)