Tenant's Overcharge Claim Denied with Four-Year Lookback Applied

Landlord sued to evict loft tenant. The court ruled against landlord and awarded tenant attorney's fees, but also denied tenant's rent overcharge claim. Both sides appealed. The Appellate Term ruled that tenant was entitled to attorney's fees as the prevailing party in the case. But that court denied tenant's appeal of the overcharge denial. Tenant appealed again to the Appellate Division. 

The court found that, although the prior landlord purchased a prior tenant's rights under Multiple Dwelling Law Section 286(12), the loft unit in question remained subject to rent stabilization since the apartment was located in a pre-1974 building containing six or more residential units. But under applicable law, there was no basis to examine the rent history beyond the four-year lookback period. And, in April 2020, New York's highest court ruled in Regina Metropolitan Co. LLC v. DHCR that HSTPA provisions requiring that the entire rent history be examined can't be retroactively applied to overcharges claimed to have occurred before HSTPA was enacted in June 2019.

Aurora Assoc. LLC v. Locatelli: Index Nos. 10985, 570235/17, 2020 NY Slip Op 03267 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; 6/11/20; Friedman, JP, Renwick, Kern, Oing, JJ)