Lease Records Given More Weight Than Rent Registration Containing Clerical Error

Tenant complained to the DHCR in March 2019 of rent overcharge and improper deregulation. Landlord claimed that the apartment had been vacancy-deregulated when tenant moved in. Landlord submitted the prior tenant's last renewal lease at a monthly legal regulated rent of $1,726.98. After adding a 17.75 percent vacancy increase, the next rent exceeded the $2,000 deregulation threshold in 2011. The DRA ruled against tenant and dismissed the complaint.

Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant claimed that there were discrepancies between the lease records and rent registrations. The DHCR noted that the 2010 rent registration contained a "scrivener's error" indicating that the last rent-stabilized renewal lease was a two-year lease instead of a one-year lease. And while the exit registration incorrectly identified the last rent-stabilized rent, such error didn't invalidate the deregulation because the renewal lease correctly identified the prior legal regulated rent. The DHCR explained that, notwithstanding the language of RSL Section 26-512(e), the DHCR has always assigned greater weight to a contemporaneous rent record, such as a signed lease or rent ledger, over a registration statement when establishing the legal regulated rent.

Cimato: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. LS110030RT (10/30/23)[4-pg. document]