S.E. & K. Corp. v. Division of Hous. & Community Renewal

In S.E. & K. Corp. v. Division of Hous. & Community Renewal (239 A.D.2d 123 [1997]), the First Department affirmed DHCR's imposition of treble damages on the succeeding owner. In that case (at 124), the landlord's excuse for lack of knowledge of the overcharge was that "its inexperience as a landlord caused it to be misled by the advice of the prior owner that a fair market rent could be charged for the apartment once the tenant who was then in occupancy moved out." The DHCR rejected the excuse on the basis that the complainant's initial rent would have represented an unlawful increase even if petitioner were entitled to charge a fair market rent. "Nor is the overcharge excusable," the Court held, "in this instance by the claimed unavailability of a full rental history from the prior owner when petitioner took title." (Id. at 124.)