Justice Joan Kenney
Plaintiff tenants moved for summary judgment on their rent overcharge claim and they sought to pierce the corporate veil to impose liability on defendant Ku. Defendants moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. The Civil Court previously held landlord Megan Holding committed fraud by registering a fictitious tenant to inflate the regulated rent for plaintiffs’ rent-stabilized unit. Plaintiffs claimed they were entitled to pierce the corporate veil as Ku conceded he intermingled personal and Megan’s finances on improvements allegedly made to their unit. The court granted plaintiffs summary judgment on liability, noting it was unpersuaded by defendants’ argument the overcharge claim was time-barred. It set the matter regarding the amount of the overcharge for a hearing. Also, the court found Megan had a full, fair opportunity to litigate in the prior proceeding, thus was collaterally estopped from challenging the Civil Court’s decision that the date for determining the overcharge was April 9, 2005, and the rent charged was fraudulently established, entitling them to treble damages for the overcharge. It also found plaintiffs were entitled to pierce the corporate veil to find individual liability on Ku’s part, as well as reasonable legal fees.
