Tenants do not have an automatic right to discovery in housing court. Thus, they must seek permission of the court to perform discovery. Generally, in non-payment, and even holdover proceedings, in Housing Court, it is very common for a tenant to interpose a defense or counterclaim of rent overcharge. When a tenant makes such a claim, the next step is to make a motion seeking the rent history of the apartment in order for the tenant to attempt to bolster the claim of rent overcharge. Following the passage of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (HSTPA) on June 14, 2019, the rules regarding discovery in summary eviction proceedings were vastly altered.
