Tenant's Rent Frozen at Base Date Rent Due to No Lease

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled for landlord and ordered landlord to refund $1,600. Landlord appealed and lost. Tenant paid $971 per month when she moved in. This was the base date rent charged four years before tenant filed her complaint. Landlord submitted rent history records showing renewal leases entered after the base date. But tenant wasn't made a party to the leases. They were signed by landlord's managing agent as tenant. The DRA properly treated tenant as a month-to-month tenant because she was given no renewal lease, and correctly froze her rent at the level charged on the base date.

Don Tom Realty Corp.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. UK210023RO (4/18/07) [2-pg. doc.]