Tenant's Claim of Rent Overcharge Dismissed by Appeals Court
LVT Number: #33439
Tenant sued landlord, claiming rent overcharge and improper deregulation of her apartment. Landlord asked the court to dismiss three of tenant's claims without trial. The court ruled for landlord. Tenant appealed and won in part.
Tenant sought a declaration by the court that her apartment was subject to rent stabilization. The court granted landlord's request to dismiss this claim. The appeals court reversed. Landlord failed to establish that the unit had been legally deregulated in 2003. The DHCR rent registration history report for the apartment didn't establish the unit's lawful rent. As stated in the DHCR's report, the DHCR rent history "merely report[ed] the statements made by the owner" and "d[id] not attest to the truthfulness" of those statements. Landlord's records showed only what former apartment tenants actually paid, not what they should have paid. And NYC Rent Guidelines Board orders didn't explain the monthly rent jump from $998.50 in 1993 to $1,663.91 in 1994, which the DHCR report stated was based in part on IAIs. Landlord furnished no proof concerning any IAIs, and the appeals court disagreed with landlord's argument that it wasn't required to furnish proof from 1993 and 1994 supporting the apartment's regulated status.
Tenant also sought injunctive relief seeking a proper lease. The court granted landlord's request to dismiss that claim, but the appeals court reversed. Since that claim depended on the apartment's regulated status, as yet to be determined, landlord's request to dismiss that claim should have been denied.
Tenant also claimed rent overcharge, and the court granted landlord's request to dismiss that claim. The appeals court found that the lower court properly dismissed tenant's overcharge claim. Tenant filed her overcharge complaint in 2022, 16 years after she claimed she was first overcharged. And tenant couldn't use pre-trial questioning to establish her overcharge claim since the 1993 rent bump occurred 10 years before the apartment was deregulated and nearly 30 years before she filed her complaint.
Nadler v. Carmine Ltd.: Index. No. 155461/22, App. No. 2754, Case No. 2023-06192, 218 NYS3d 59, 2024 NY Slip Op 04913 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 10/8/24; Manzanet-Daniels, JP, Singh, Mendez, Rosado, O'Neill-Levy, JJ)