Landlord-Tenant—Rent Overcharges—Appellate Division Held Appropriate Base Date Rent for Calculating Damages Was Four Years From Complaint—Tenants Failed To Demonstrate Fraudulent Scheme To Deregulate Apartments—court Used Default Formula Pursuant to Rent Stabilization Code §2526.1(g)—Landlord Acknowledged Overcharges, But Argued That Overcharges Resulted From Error Not Fraud—'Complex Statutory,' Administrative and Judicial Precedent as to Overcharge Claims in Buildings That Received J51 Benefits—"In a Time Riddled With Questions Concerning This Topic, It Cannot Be Held That a Post-Roberts Deregulation Establishes Fraud"—Dissent Stated That This Area Of The Law Has Been 'Scarred By Misrepresentation'—Dissent Asserted Issues of Fact Warrant a Trial and Disputed Interpretation of Prior Case Law

The plaintiffs in the subject case are current and former tenants of a Manhattan apartment building. Defendant "A" is the building owner and Defendant "B" is the owner's managing member and agent.

On Nov. 18, 2014, the plaintiffs commenced an action, asserting claims for, inter alia, rent overcharges. The defendants denied the allegations and asserted affirmative defenses.