NY Court of Appeals Rules No Retroactive Rent Charge Disputes

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NEW YORK CITY- The State of New York Court of Appeals has ruled that the Housing Stability Tenant Protection Act of 2019 cannot be applied retroactively to revive, or expand recovery on, a previously asserted rent overcharge claim. Now rent charges must be resolved under the law when they go into effect at the time the overcharge occurred.

Part F of HSTPA, which the court has ruled unconstitutional to apply to retroactive charges, holds landlords responsible for rent charges above a certain threshold. The Court of Appeals definitively held that, under the prior law, an overcharge is calculated using the rent charged four years prior to the filing of a complaint, plus any legal increases applicable during the four-year look-back period, except in the case of fraud.