Landlord Unaware of Rent Reduction Order

(Decision submitted by James R. Marino of the Manhattan law firm of Kucker Kraus & Bruh, attorneys for the landlord.) Tenant complained of a rent overcharge. Landlord claimed there was no overcharge. Landlord bought the building in 1990 and made substantial renovations to a vacant apartment before tenant moved in. While tenant's complaint was pending, the DRA informed landlord that there was an order reducing rents based on reduced services in effect since 1985. Landlord applied for a retroactive rent restoration certifying that all services were restored as of 1990. The DRA ruled that there was an overcharge based on a rent freeze resulting from the prior order. Landlord appealed, pointing out that when it bought the building, it asked DHCR for a list of all pending cases. The printout DHCR provided didn't include the rent reduction order, which came to light while tenant's overcharge complaint was pending. The DHCR ruled for landlord. Except for the rent freeze, there was no overcharge. Landlord had made a good-faith attempt to find out about all pending DHCR matters when it bought the building. And landlord had renovated the apartment when tenant moved in, which cleared any service issues.

255 Eastern Parkway Assoc.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Dckt. No. HL 210092 RO (11/21/95) [4-page document]