Landlord Can't Amend Rent Registrations Where Tenant Disputes Proposed Changes

Landlord asked the DHCR for permission to amend its 2012-2014 apartment registrations for tenant’s apartment. The DRA ruled against landlord, who appealed and lost. Landlord sought to lower the registered legal regulated rent for the three years in question. It claimed that prior landlord made a mistake in setting the rent. But tenant opposed the application and claimed that the rent should be even lower than the amount claimed by landlord. Since tenant disputed the rent by a significant amount, there was more than a minor calculation error involved. Although tenant hadn’t filed a rent overcharge complaint, she could do so within four years of the rents in question. And, although tenant had filed harassment and lease violation complaints against landlord, there had been no ruling in either case to date concerning the correct amounts of the legal regulated rents.

1668 Putnam Associates LLC: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. DR110006RO (6/9/16) [3-pg. doc.]