Tenant's Apartment Was Properly Deregulated

Landlord sued to evict unregulated tenant after tenant's lease expired. Tenant claimed that the apartment had been improperly deregulated and that he was overcharged. He also sought attorney's fees. Landlord asked the court to dismiss these claims without trial.

The court ruled for landlord. First, since tenant's lease contained no clause giving landlord the right to attorney's fees if it prevailed in a court case, tenant had no reciprocal right to attorney's fees. Tenant argued that landlord fraudulently increased the apartment rent and therefore the court should look back six years or more to determine if there was an overcharge. But there was no proof of an alleged fraudulent scheme. In fact, rent registration records showed that from 1984 to 1989, landlord didn't raise the legal rent; from 1990 until 2003, landlord didn't increase the legal rent and often lowered the legal rent to give prior tenant a preferential rent; and after 2004, landlord continued to provide preferential rents in most years. In addition, landlord submitted a sworn statement from the prior tenant who moved into the apartment in 2004 and said it was "newly renovated."

Landlord showed that it had the right to deregulate the apartment prior to tenant's occupancy as a result of legitimate increases taken over a span of years. The fact that landlord gave tenant a rent-stabilized lease and mistakenly continued to register the rent didn't confer rent stabilization status on tenant. The court awarded possession to landlord and stayed execution on an eviction warrant until either Oct. 31, 2020, or any later applicable legal stay of eviction resulting from the COVID crisis.

750 Wash. Partners, LLC v. Scantlen: Index No. 050081/20, 2020 NY Slip Op 51106(U)(Civ. Ct. Kings; 9/16/20; Barany, J)