Landlord's Rent History Records Were Inconsistent

LVT Number: #21185

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DHCR ruled for tenant and found that the overcharge was willful. Landlord appealed, claiming that the DHCR’s decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court ruled for landlord and revoked the triple damages imposed by the DHCR. The DHCR appealed and won. Documentation of the apartment’s rental history that landlord submitted to the DHCR was full of inaccuracies and discrepancies.

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DHCR ruled for tenant and found that the overcharge was willful. Landlord appealed, claiming that the DHCR’s decision was arbitrary and unreasonable. The court ruled for landlord and revoked the triple damages imposed by the DHCR. The DHCR appealed and won. Documentation of the apartment’s rental history that landlord submitted to the DHCR was full of inaccuracies and discrepancies. Two of the renewal leases covered the same period, yet listed different rents and different permissible rent increases for the apartment. One of the renewal lease forms indicated that it was signed in January 2000, eight months after the renewal lease commenced on May 1, 1999. In addition, landlord hadn’t registered the apartment for five years, from 2000 through 2004. Landlord failed to prove that the overcharge wasn’t willful, and the DHCR properly imposed triple damages.

508 Realty Associates, LLC v. DHCR: NYLJ, 4/21/09, p. 40, col. 3 (App. Div. 2 Dept.; Skelos, JP, Dillon, Angiolillo, Eng, JJ)