Tenants Bound by Withdrawal of Complaint

Landlord applied for high-rent/high-income deregulation of tenant's apartment in 2002. The DHCR ruled for landlord, and tenants appealed. Tenants had filed a rent overcharge complaint in 1991. In 1997, the DHCR issued an order acknowledging that tenants had withdrawn the complaint. Tenants now claimed that their agreement to withdraw the overcharge complaint was void as a waiver of benefits under rent stabilization. If there had been a finding of rent overcharge, their rent would still be less than $2,000 per month. The court ruled against tenants. The DHCR properly determined that tenants' withdrawal of their overcharge complaint was valid. Tenants received valuable consideration from landlord in exchange for withdrawing the overcharge complaint, and they made no claim of duress or overreaching by landlord. Tenants had advised the DHCR of the overcharge settlement and asked the DHCR to close the case.

Pessin v. DHCR: NYLJ, 6/27/05, p. 26, col. 6 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Mazzarelli, JP, Friedman, Nardelli, Williams, JJ)