Rent Overcharge Extended for a Period In Excess of Four Years

In Crimmins v. Handler & Co. (249 AD2d 89), the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) issued a rent reduction order on May 30, 1989, after having previously issued an overcharge order on November 17, 1987, but the landlord did not comply with the orders. The tenant did nothing to enforce the orders until March 11, 1996, when she commenced an overcharge action. The Appellate Division held that the tenant's action to recover damages was viable for the overcharges collected in the "four years prior to service of the summons" (id., at 91). The Court expressly rejected the landlord's claim that the action was barred because the overcharge had extended for a period in excess of four years.