Tenant Moved Out Before Rent Stabilization Coverage Began at Building

Tenant complained to the DHCR of rent overcharge and improper apartment deregulation. The DRA ruled against tenant, who appealed and lost. Landlord pointed out that it had signed an Assurance of Discontinuance with the NY State Attorney General where the AG decided that the building had been converted to cooperative ownership in 1989 and that, effective Nov. 19, 2018, apartments would become subject to the Rent Stabilization Law. The Assurance of Discontinuance included a letter from the DHCR stating that the agencies "take the position that any claim of overcharge prior to the date of the [Assurance] shall be inoperative, since prior to the [Assurance], the building was exempt from rent stabilization." Because tenant moved out of the building on Dec. 30, 2015, he wasn't subject to rent stabilization and the complaint was properly dismissed.

Argun: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. LQ410037RT (7/10/23)[3-pg. document]