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Where Do I File My Rent Overcharge Claim?
Suppose you were overcharged. Where do you bring the claim? Your
attorney will give you at least three options: housing court,
civil court, and DHCR.
Housing court. If you are being sued for rent in housing
court, consider bringing your overcharge claim in your housing
court case. If you can’t afford the rent and you fail to
raise this counterclaim, you may be evicted, even though, because
of the overcharge, the landlord owes you money!
Housing court is the fastest way to resolve a rent overcharge.
Housing court is so swift that some overcharged tenants intentionally
hold their rent, thus forcing their landlords to take them to
housing court.
Although I have had success with this tactic, it is rarely done
well. Rent overcharge claims in housing court are often compromised
and settled for pennies on the dollar, because the tenant confronts
the most important factor in a rent case: the tenant is always
facing a risk of eviction. Further, if a housing court judge sees
fit to punt the overcharge issue to DHCR, she will.
Housing court is the last resort, appropriate only if you cannot
afford to pay the rent.
Civil suit. Another option is to sue the landlord. Here,
the tenant has a degree of control over both the timing and the
relief to be requested in the case. And there is no risk of eviction.
Further, the litigant in a civil case is entitled to discovery,
which means that you can demand that the landlord produce documents
that are important to the case.
DHCR complaint. The last option is to file a rent overcharge
complaint with DHCR. The problem is that DHCR is notorious for
remarkable delay. Some tenants have waited for as much as ten
years for DHCR to make its decision. And so, many tenant advocates
advise a civil suit over a DHCR complaint.
DHCR has much improved in the processing times of their cases
recently, boasting of an average resolution time of six months.
I cannot believe that they are as fast as that, but DHCR is much
better than before.
Each option has inherent risks and benefits. Making the wrong
choice could open you to risk of eviction, or simply unnecessary
delay. Your attorney will be invaluable in helping you to choose
wisely.
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Steven
De Castro, Esq., represents tenants in rent overcharge cases.
To find out how the statements made on this site may be applicable
to your situation, call 212-964-5364.
