Rent Board reverses portion of hearing examiner award after remand; orders no additional tenant damages for appealed portion

The Richmond Rent Board voted unanimously to accept the city general counsel's recommendation to reverse a portion of a prior hearing examiner award after the tenants failed to submit evidence on remand to establish the property's base rent.

The vote took place at the board’s September 2025 special meeting. Vice Chair Cantor moved to accept General Counsel Charles Ochinuga’s recommendation; Board Member Willis seconded. Board Members Espinosa, Willis, Cantor and Chair Tipton voted yes; Board Member Hite was absent. The board instructed staff that a written decision will be issued to the parties within 30 days.

Why the board acted: The matter arose from an earlier hearing in which a hearing examiner awarded tenants a total of $37,369.43. The appellant (landlord) appealed only the portion of the award the hearing examiner attributed to overcharged rent, which the hearing examiner had calculated as $24,574.05; the Rent Board previously confirmed the remaining $12,795.38 as owed to the tenants. On remand the Rent Board ordered the record reopened for 30 days for the parties to submit evidence limited to the issue of base rent. According to city legal staff and the landlord’s counsel, the tenants did not submit any documents in that reopening window; the landlords therefore did not file rebuttal evidence. Despite the lack of new evidence, the hearing examiner reissued a decision awarding $17,496.71 on the remanded portion.

General Counsel Ochinuga told the board he reviewed the record and recommended reversing the hearing examiner’s remand award to zero for the appealed portion because the tenants did not meet their burden to establish base rent in the reopened record. "The tenants still haven't submitted evidence establishing base rent," Ochinuga said in his summary to the board, and recommended reversal of the hearing examiner's award for that portion.

Andrew Gabriel, attorney for the appellants (Anselmo Ocampo and Ada Ocampo), urged the board to accept the general counsel's recommendation and noted the board had already provided the tenants an opportunity to supplement the record. "The tenants do bear the burden to prove that they have overpaid rents above the maximum allowable rent rate. That burden has not been met," Gabriel said.

A respondent who identified himself as Selvino Ramirez disputed the contention that evidence had not been submitted, saying mediators and the parties had exchanged documents and that some payments were made in cash, for which standard receipts were not available. "We submitted everything and he and the owner has everything. We did it in a timely manner," Ramirez told the board. The board and counsel discussed that some of those materials may relate to a subsequent, separate petition and therefore might not have been filed in the specific case reopened on remand.

Board discussion focused on the narrow scope of the remand, the program’s evidentiary precedents for establishing base rent (rent receipts, bank statements or corroborating witness testimony), and the hearing examiner’s decision to recalculate awards despite the limited remand. Counsel and board members noted the program is continuing efforts to compile base rent information for units under rent control so that future cases are less likely to encounter gaps in documentation.

The final action does not alter the previously confirmed $12,795.38 award that the Rent Board had left intact. The board’s motion accepted the general counsel’s recommendation to reverse the remanded award; the clerk said parties will receive the Rent Board’s decision in writing within 30 days.

Votes at a glance

- Motion: Accept General Counsel Charles Ochinuga’s recommendation to reverse the hearing examiner’s remanded award on the appealed portion. Moved by Vice Chair Cantor; seconded by Board Member Willis. Vote: Espinosa — yes; Willis — yes; Cantor — yes; Chair Tipton — yes. Outcome: approved. Board Member Hite absent.

Key amounts and timeline

- Original hearing examiner award (entire case): $37,369.43 (from the prior proceeding). - Portion appealed by landlord: $24,574.05. - Previously confirmed by Rent Board (not before the board in this appeal): $12,795.38. - Hearing examiner’s remand award (reissued): $17,496.71. - Remand procedure: record reopened for 30 days to allow evidence limited to base rent; tenants did not submit additional evidence in that window.

What’s next

The Rent Board’s written decision will be provided to the parties within 30 days. Board staff said they will review any existing settlement agreements to confirm whether base rent was established there, and will work with program staff to continue compiling base-rent records for units in the registry.