Landlord Can't Vacate Overcharge Judgment

Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DHCR ruled for tenant, and tenant entered a judgment for the overcharge amount. Landlord asked the court to vacate or modify the judgment, claiming that tenant had already withheld rent to offset the overcharge amount. The court and appeals court ruled against landlord. The judgment was limited to overcharges collected by landlord from 1986 until 1991. So the amount of rent owed between July 1991 and October 1995 wasn't relevant to the amount of the judgment. And the 1996 DHCR order expressly barred tenant from either collecting a judgment or offsetting rent before landlord's time to appeal the order had expired. So tenant's alleged withholding of rent after that can't be considered as an offset to the overcharge.

Miller v. Pechock: NYLJ, 4/12/01, p. 20, col. 2 (App. Div.1 Dept.; Rosenberger, JP, Ellerin, Wallach, Lerner, Rubin, JJ)