Triple Damages Awarded for Willful Overcharge

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled for tenant and ordered landlord to refund the overcharge with triple damages. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord had bought the building in 2005. Prior landlord told landlord that the building was never registered because he believed it to be temporarily exempt from rent stabilization. Tenant was prior landlord’s cousin, had no written lease, and paid $775 per month in rent four years before he filed his overcharge complaint. Landlord gave tenant a lease at a monthly rent of $1,000. Landlord argued that the overcharge wasn’t willful. But, based on the age of the building, the information he received from prior landlord, and the law, landlord had reason to know that he was overcharging tenant.

198 23rd Street, LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. ZF210011RO (7/12/2012) [3-pg. doc.]