Application of Time Period for Lookback Requires More Factfinding

Landlord sued to evict month-to-month tenant after sending a 30-day termination notice. Tenant claimed rent overcharge. Landlord then discontinued the eviction claim, but the court considered tenant's request to consider his overcharge claim without trial.

No ruling could be made without further factfinding. The court noted that it must resolve tenant's overcharge claim according to the law in effect at the time the overcharge occurred. This prevented inspection of the apartment registration history more than four years before the overcharge claim. Lack of registration during the four-year lookback period didn't warrant consideration of older registrations since the rent charged, not the registered rent, was the basis upon which to evaluate an overcharge complaint.

Still, the court could consider older rent registrations to determine the apartment's rent regulatory status. "There is a distinction between an overcharge claim and a challenge to the deregulated status of an apartment." Tenant raised a claim of rent fraud only after landlord answered his motion for a ruling on the overcharge claim. So the court delayed ruling on the overcharge claim.

ZB Prospect Realty LLC v. Frankel: 68 Misc.3d 1214(A), 2020 NY Slip Op 50956(U)(Civ. Ct. Kings; 8/25/20; Stoller, J)