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Late fee illegal even if original lease contains it?

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Late fee illegal even if original lease contains it?

Postby Someone » Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:24 pm

I won a rent overcharge case against my landlord a few years ago. DHCR issued the order directing the landlord to issue me a new Lease with a lowered rent.

The owner did not immediately comply as they started fighting it in Court, After losing 2 appeals they issued me a Renewal Lease with the correct amount as originally directed by DHCR.

Being however they did not issue me a NEW LEASE does the original lease still hold power as it relates to the Late Rent Clause or not?

Is there any case law on this?

Thank you
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Postby TenantNet » Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:28 pm

A finding of overcharge does not entitle a tenant to a new RS lease. You really don't want a "new" lease as that would include a vacancy increase. Even if the DHCR order used the word "new," I don't think that means a "new" lease. In other words, the provisions of the existing lease - to the extent they are lawful - would hold.

I would make sure that the registrations with DHCR reflect the legal rent.
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No it would not

Postby Someone » Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:37 pm

NO IT WOULD NOT.

The order specifically directed the landlord to issue a New Lease with a specified Rent. That was the whole point of getting the order in the first place. Since however more than 2 years have passed since the original overcharged lease was issued, they just decided to offer me a renewal with the amount specified on the rent order.

I would like to know the source of your information.

What you are saying though is even though DHCR found an overcharge and directed them to issue me a new lease, the provisions of the lease which were not in "overcharge/fraud/error" remain in full force and effect?

I thought there was case law to the contrary.

Would appreciate if others can weigh in on this.
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Postby TenantNet » Sat Sep 01, 2012 11:05 pm

You seem to already know the answer, so there's not much more we can say.

Without having seen the actual DHCR order and subsequent court decisions, we can't opine further.
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Postby ctny » Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:01 pm

I was initially attracted to this thread wanting to know if late rent charge is legal, but this thread actually has nothing to do with that topic...

Let me see if I got this right, the original poster got a court order to reduce the rent, so the question is if a clause unrelated to rent cost on the original contract is still valid.

I am not a lawyer, but logic seems to indicate there are many clauses on a contract, late charges, rent due date, notice before landlord can enter apartment, etc. Since none of these are related to rent cost, why would one be invalid vs the others?
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Postby TenantNet » Wed Sep 12, 2012 1:17 am

The OP was using the term "new lease" in the context that it was like a new car. It wasn't. The term can also mean to renew the existing lease, where all previous terms and conditions hold. Remember, this is a RS unit (and posted in the wrong forum).

As I said to the OP, without seeing the court order, it's hard to determine the context of the word "new," but I'm pretty sure it's the latter.
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