[A slightly different version of this story appeared in theNew York Law Journal]

NEW YORK CITY-The new stabilized rent of an apartment thathad been illegally deregulated must be based on its entire renthistory, not just the last four years, a state appellate panel saidTuesday. The ruling is the latest in a series of tenant-friendlydecisions to emerge in the wake of the Court of Appeals’ 2009ruling that apartments in buildings receiving J-51 tax benefitscannot be deregulated.

The Appellate Division, First Department, ruled in 72ARealty v. Lucas that the four-year statute of limitations forrent overcharge actions does not apply when an apartment has beenillegally deregulated, partly reversing a June 2011 decision by theAppellate Term. Justices Angela Mazzarelli, David Saxe, LelandDeGrasse, Rosalyn Richter and Sheila Abdus-Salaam joined theunsigned opinion. The panel remanded the dispute between an EastVillage woman and her landlord to Housing Court for further reviewof the apartment’s rent history.