Triple Damages Revoked

Mineola tenant complained of a rent overcharge. Landlord claimed that the apartment was vacant on the base date. Tenant then moved into the apartment on Oct. 1, 2002, under a one-year lease for $1,050 per month. The DRA ruled for tenant, froze tenant's rent, and found that the overcharge was willful. The DRA ordered landlord to refund $42,000. Landlord appealed, claiming that there was no overcharge. The DHCR ruled for landlord in part. Landlord submitted insufficient proof that the apartment was vacant on the base date. Landlord submitted a letter from prior tenant stating that prior tenant was moving out before the base date. But the letter contained no address, the signature was unreadable, and the name was different from the name on landlord's 2002 rent registration. So the DRA properly used the DHCR's default method to set the base rent. And tenant's rent couldn't be increased until 2005, since there was no renewal lease until then. But the DRA improperly froze the apartment's legal regulated rent based on landlord's failure to file Property Maintenance & Operation Cost Survey Schedules, since the DHCR had already ruled that landlord wasn't subject to this penalty. The DHCR also found that the overcharge wasn't willful and revoked the triple damages.

150 Harrison Avenue: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. WL710037RO (4/29/09) [4-pg. doc.]