Tenant Was Undercharged

Rent-stabilized tenant complained of a rent overcharge. The DRA ruled against tenant, finding no overcharge. Tenant appealed and lost. The base rent date was Aug. 6, 2005, four years before tenant filed his complaint. In 2002, landlord began receiving RPTL 421-a tax benefits for the building. Although entitled to do so, landlord never collected from tenant the additional annual rent increase equal to 2.2 percent of the initial rent. This was a separate charge that can be added to the collectible rent after rent guideline increases are computed for tenants in 421-a buildings. So tenant was in fact undercharged. And although landlord hadn't filed timely annual rent registrations for tenant's apartment, it did so while tenant's complaint was pending. So there was no resulting rent freeze. Tenant also argued that the four-year base date shouldn't apply in this case due to landlord's fraud, but there was no proof of any fraudulent deregulation scheme, violation of the Rent Stabilization Law, or discrepancy between the registration history and lease history for the apartment.

Mujtaba: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. ZB110048RT (3/21/12) [3-pg. doc.]