Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with nyc and landlord

How can I get my landlord to allow me to have a pet?

gchucky — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:10:50 -0800

How can I get my landlord to allow me to have a pet? I live in Queens in NYC in a pretty decent apartment. Rent is good for how much space we have, and this area is nice and quiet. The problem is that my girlfriend and I want to get a cat, but there's a stipulation in the original lease that says no pets. I asked the superintendent of the building, and he also said that they won't really allow pets 'cause it can be a problem with cleanliness and whatever. Ideally we'd get a cat that's a few months/years old and has already been litter-trained, so cleanliness won't really be a problem.

The thing is, I think we've been pretty good tenants. Always paid the rent on time, never had any wild parties or done anything crazy, haven't destroyed anything, and so on.

So what's the best way to petition my landlord to allow me to have a cat? Should I write a letter to them stating the above and asking if we can get a cat? Is there more that I should say in that letter that I haven't thought of? Should I just get a cat anyway and keep it hidden in case my sup comes up for whatever reason? (And as a side note, would it be annoying to ask for a rent decrease in the same letter?)

Why is my landlord acting against his own economic interests?

raconteur — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:46:21 -0800

NYCRentFilter: My landlord is letting me walk after my lease is up rather than cut my rent, even though the apartment will be vacant for at least a month after I leave. Why? So I have a nice but pricey apartment in the West Village. Had a two year lease with the same rent the whole time. We signed the lease near the high water mark of the Manhattan rental market. When the landlord gave us our renewal forms, he left the rent the same, which in the NYC market is a pretty major concession to the current economic situation. But, my girlfriend and I felt, not enough. We sent a letter proposing a cheaper rent; we were hoping to meet in the middle-- taking roughly one month's rent off of the year, spread out over each month. They said they weren't in a position to budge arguing that: a, getting the same rent for another year was enough of a concession already and b, their properties are low vacancy and they are not having problems filling them.

For two years, we've been excellent tenants and always paid on time; the response to our letter by the landlord even said so. But still, not even a counter offer, just take it or leave it. We left it.

So here's the kicker: we found a great place in Brooklyn. We're very happy with it. But we found out our old apartment will be vacant at least one month for refreshing (repainting, cleaning etc.) while they find a new tenant. Why would they choose to expose themselves to this horrible market in addition to "losing" the same amount of money? By giving us a cheaper monthly rent would've made LESS work for themselves then having to find a new tenant as the market gets softer every day? If they had someone ready to go for 4/1, I could understand choosing to let us walk, but I was stunned to hear they'd rather eat a month's rent and risk worse tenants than give a discount to good tenants.

Speculation is fine, but I want some real concrete theories, based in taxes (taking an operating loss, perhaps?) or things like that. This is just really confusing me right now. Could they really be exposing themselves to the market, and the possibility that it won't bear our old rent, out of pure stubbornness? I should say this is a good size LLC with a lot of buildings, not a one person show. And our building is coming out of rent control, so a lot of people pay very little in rent compared to us.

That said, I can't wait to get to Brooklyn, so it's worked out for the best anyway. I just am trying to figure why my landlord seems slow to adjust to the new realities of market rent, when they seemed quite happy to accept market rent when it was high. I should mention also that the application process was grueling. They did not seem to be looking for renters to turn and burn at the time, but rather long term, stable people. Theories?

can a landlord demand more security deposit after you've moved in

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:53:20 -0800

nychousingfilter: I signed a lease, moved into my new apartment on the 1st and now my landlord is demanding an extra security deposit. Can they do this? First: I know you are not a lawyer and that even if you are, you're not my lawyer. Also this is posted anonymously because some of friends read Ask MeFi and I'd like my business to be private.

I'm taking time off to work on a startup, my family overseas is investing by covering the rent while I do and the company of a family friend signed a form guaranteeing my rent. I signed my lease, received keys, and gave the landlord's company first + last + security in the form of teller's checks which they've cashed last month, and I moved in on the first. All of a sudden the landlord has decided they want more forms from the company guaranteeing me which they don't want to provide, and have told my family that they'd like a few additional months security deposit. Can they do this? Can they cancel my lease and force me to move out or move to evict me if I don't cough up? I signed the lease but haven't received a copy of it signed by my landlord, so it's possible he's not signed it, but they cashed my checks and let me move in on the first. What are their options, and what are mine?

(And yes, I'm looking for a housing lawyer, but I'd still like to be able to know things and thus do my own research before I see one, hence this question. Thanks for help in advance.)

Help me smoke the smokers.

allkindsoftime — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:45:55 -0800

NYC-Renters-filter. How do I make my management company make the ass-hat neighbors upstairs stop using our patio as an ash-tray. We moved into a new first-floor apartment a few months back, and it comes complete with a private patio accessed from our back door, behind the building. Cleaned it up, threw up a patio table, umbrella, tiki torches, the whole deal.

And then the butts started to rain down. And it hasn't stopped. After the first month, we cleaned up a few dozen of them, and found that one of them had burned a hole in our umbrella. So we left a polite note with each of the rear-facing units on the 5 floors above us, asking them to please use an ashtray instead of the yard. We heard back from 3 of them letting us know they don't smoke, that left the top floor or the guy directly above us. The guy directly above us is regularly out on his fire escape with friends, smoking it up, but never drops them when we're out there. The other day, however, I heard them out there and then saw - through the window, a butt hit the patio.

We've called the management company multiple times about this. Today I did another cleanup and found 57 cigarette butts, 29 joint roaches, 19 used matches, and one broken lighter. That's over 100 chances to start a fire on our patio. And an hour after I cleaned up, I walked back out and found a fresh butt on the patio. The only open window above our place, all day, has been the neighbor upstairs.

I have it all in a bag and I want to march over to the management company, find the guy in charge, present him with the bag, documentation of our calls on the issue, documentation of the damage already caused, and insist that an end be put to it. But I'd also like to know what my rights are as a tenant.

Can I refuse to pay rent? Is there some department in the city that I can threaten to go to if the management company doesn't put a stop to this? Should I threaten to go to a lawyer? Should I go to a lawyer first? (I'd rather save my cash, hence this question prior to that) How do I make them get their shit together and threaten these kids with more serious consequences if they don't stop throwing their shit in our yard?

TIA.

Am I really paying $90 to cook dinner twice a week?

blueskiesinside — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:34:07 -0800

Paying for gas to light the boiler pilot lights in a NYC apartment? So, we've been having a lot of issues with Con Ed. They've been reading our gas usage at 44 therms a month. That's a lot for just a gas stove, even they say that. Their explanation is that the gas meter for the boiler and furnace pilots are not separate from our meter (there are only two meters in the basement, and two apartments) and that we're paying for gas every time the boiler is used. The landlord says "Oh no no no, we have oil heat, you're not paying anything." This is the third month in a row with this level of gas usage. What do we do now? Go to the broker we got the apartment through? In New York City, have a lease that says that we don't pay for heat or water.

My landlord is a slime bucket and I need to break my lease. What kind of repercussions might I face?

Sloop John B — Wed, 14 May 2008 09:28:31 -0800

My landlord is a slime bucket and I need to break my lease. What kind of repercussions might I face? Over the last year and a half, I've had some problems with my landlord. Leaky roofs, heat and hot water that randomly stop working, mice, roaches, and, most recently, bedbugs. Although it turned out that we didn't have a full-on infestation, the landlord has refused to have the whole building inspected, and I don't trust him to stay on top of the problem. In short, I want to break my lease and leave the apartment. I have a feeling that he'll let me out of the lease, but his security deposit policy is a bit whacked out. His policy is to release the security deposit a full 30 days after you move out. Plus, in order to break my lease, he may try to get me to sign something that would allow him to take my deposit. Basically, he's a slimy, slimy man, and I don't trust him to actually give me my deposit back. What I want to do is move the hell out and tell him to keep my security deposit in lieu of last month's rent. If I do this, what can he do to me? Can he mess up my credit? Can he sue me? Would he sue me? Do I have any recourse, other than spending lots of money on a lawyer?

Thanks for the help.

How do I best navigate through a bad landlord/tenant situation?

SeizeTheDay — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:07:32 -0800

Complicated, messy NYC roommate/landlord question: 4 roommates share a 3 bedroom converted into 4 (with permission). One roommate signed a lease for a new building without getting permission from current building to transfer name on lease to new roommate. Said old roommate now refuses to pay six months of rent (remainder of lease). Much, much more inside. So three out of 4 roommates want to get out of current lease by assigning the lease to new people. This was never a problem in the building before, but now building has new ownership, and they’re making this difficult/impossible.

Two roommates are unemployed and need to get out. One of two refuses to pay remaining 6 months of lease (even though he lied about his income and signed a new one year lease in NJ). Third roommate that wants to leave has signed a one year lease (in another building) starting in May.

Leasing agent for landlord will not give us a straight answer about assigning lease to other candidates. We gave management 3 very viable replacement candidates, including all application material. This morning one of the candidates was explicitly rejected by management because it was for the converted room (despite giving us (the current tenants) no notice of this). They refuse to comment on the other two applications.

I am one of the three that wants to move out. I am willing to pay my 6 months remainder of the lease to avoid credit problems, court appearances, etc. but (as I said earlier) one roommate refuses to pay the next 6 months and other two roommates refuse to cover the deadbeat’s share (and eventually sue deadbeat). Important note: landlord refuses to accept partial payments of rent, so if deadbeat doesn’t pay and we don’t cover his share, leasing agent won’t cash our checks.

Leasing agency refuses to break the lease. Deadbeat refuses to pay. And the third roommate that wants to leave (who signed elsewhere) is starting to think that he should refuse to pay as well and let them sue us all.

I don’t want to be sued. I want to pay my 6 months and get the hell out of this situation. Ideally, I want management to take the applicants we gave them to replace us, but if that’s not going to happen, I need to know what my best option is. Should I: 1) Refuse to pay and let them sue, knowing full well they’d sue anyway because deadbeat won’t pay. 2) Pay my rent and pray that they cash my check and understand the situation (I’m going to camp out in the office on Monday until they at least hear my case). 3) Promise the landlord a check for the full amount of my share if they leave me alone. 4) Something else?

What happens if they sue me? Will I be on the hook for the entire unpaid amount (which may be up to $30000, assuming no one pays ever from now until lease end)? Can I use old checks to prove I only paid x dollars/month and the judge will only require me to owe x? I really have no clue here.

I’m in NYC. I have contacted legal aid and lawyers. I will be speaking with a lawyer that specializes in this on Monday. But I don’t want to pay $300/hour given how ignorant I am of this situation, because that consultation would end up costing me hundreds alone. So before I go to the lawyer, I’d like some anecdotal and street advice about my options. Sorry for the length. ANY help at all is unbelievably appreciated right now. Thanks.

Help: I'm a landlord

curiocity — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:22:28 -0800

New York City Landlord Filter: I just began a new job as a manager of some residential buildings in NYC, and I think I'm a bit under qualified for the position. Anything that can help me out with learning the intricate legal requirements as well as general tenant management would be quite helpful. Any ideas?

Must a NYC landlord pay to repair an oven?

rustcellar — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 11:34:34 -0800

Is our New York City landlord responsible for repairing our broken oven? I understand that y'all are not our lawyers and any responses are not legal advice.

Here's the situation: We live in the first floor of a two-family house in Brooklyn. The owners of the building live upstairs. We write rent checks to their daughter, and our lease agreement specifies her as the landlord.

Our oven has been behaving erratically for the past six months. More recently, we purchased an oven thermometer to confirm its behavior. What happens is this: it preheats, usually to about 25 or 50 degrees lower than the entered temperature (which is fine: I understand that most ovens aren't precisely calibrated--we can just set it higher). After it preheats, it begins losing heat rapidly, and you can tell from the sudden stop in the low hissing sound associated with preheating that it is no longer generating heat. The temperature often drops to 200 degrees in just a few minutes. If we turn the heat up further, sometimes the oven will start generating heat again. Sometimes it stays cold and silent. We occasionally have to turn the broiler on (which seems to "reset" it, sometimes) or cool it down to room temperature before we can get it to heat up again.

We bake a lot and have been roasting a lot of vegetables, so an oven which can't hold heat for more than a few minutes is seriously unusable.

All of which is a long way of saying that our oven is broken. Our landlord (that is, the daughter of the couple upstairs, who by the way don't speak much English, so we very rarely deal with them) responded to our email complaint and request for repair last month by saying that while she's glad to find a repairman, her father has had the same oven for 7 years and it's working fine, and ours was new when we moved in 3 years ago, so she doesn't think it's fair for her to pay for repairs.

Our question is, does she have to? More specifically, can you direct me towards a clear and authoritative source that says that this is her responsibility?

I have found a few things, but nothing definite. The New York Attorney General's office tenants rights guide makes reference to a landlord's duty of repair laid out in the multiple dwelling law, but the section he references isn't explicit at all and the law isn't clear whether our apartment is really a "multiple dwelling" (since it has fewer than 3 apartments).

This explanation of tenants' rights more explicitly says that our landlord has a duty to repair appliances, but it's really a document about rent stabilized and rent controlled apartments, and ours isn't.

Our lease says the following, which sounds pretty bad, I wish I had read better when signing, and I can only hope that it's not legal for us to sign away rights in the lease that we are guaranteed by law:

"11. MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR; RULES. Tenant will, at its sole expense, keep and maintain the Premises and appurtenances in good and sanitary condition and repair during the term of this Agreement and any renewal thereof. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Tenant shall:" and then it has a long list of responsibilities about things like not blocking the driveway, not hanging laundry, not putting ashes down the sink, not playing the radio too loud, etc., but nothing about the appliances. "Appurtenances" is not defined elsewhere in the lease.

Notwithstanding all the above unclear evidence, all the New Yorkers we've talked to have said that of course she's responsible for paying, and we'd be entirely within our rights to get a repairman and just take the cost out of our rent. Are they all wrong?

I think that covers all the background. I can follow up with any more information if it's still not enough to decide what the situation means.

Thanks for any and all help or suggestions. Again, while I really do trust you guys, what I really need is something official I can point her to.

(Help with the oven problem independently would be great too. The self clean function seems to be broken (nothing happens when we push the buttom). I bought some oven cleaner and cleaned all the sides but the bottle specifically says not to clean the heating elements, so that didn't feel productive and anyway doesn't seem to have helped. It's a Magic Chef, with a gas stove on top and digital temerature entry. The heating element for the broiler is in the roof of the oven (and it works fine), and the element for regular baking is below a panel in the floor of the oven. Any idea what a repair might cost?)

Shouldn't our landlord sign the lease too?

edlundart — Mon, 28 May 2007 20:11:30 -0800

We signed a lease (2 copies) on a new apartment in NYC, at our broker's office. The 2 copies were sent to the management company. As promised, the management company sent one of the copies back to us about a week later. It's got our original signatures, but the landlord didn't sign it! The line for the landlord's signature is empty. Doesn't this mean that we're bound to the terms of the contract, but the landlord is not? It seems very wrong. Is it normal? Should we demand a copy of the lease with the signatures of both parties on it?

Can a NYC landlord demand 30 days notice before I decide to leave my lease?

miniape — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 07:02:53 -0800

Can a NYC landlord demand thirty days notice before one leaves the lease? On 6/30 I called my landlord and spoke to his son (an employee of the real estate company) and told him we would like to extend our lease one month (from 7/15 to 8/15), that he we were 99% sure we would leave at that point and that I would call him if our plans changed.

On 8/2 I called and left a message stating that since we were leaving on 8/15 we would need to drop of the keys and give him our new addresses. I received no response.

This morning I called and left another message. He called back and left a message stating that he didn't have any record of my previous call, that I needed to give him 30 days notice so he could rent the apartment or we would be responsible for the rent.

There is no clause stating this in the lease, I can't find anything on the housing department's website. It seems unfair to the tenant, so I really can't imagine this is the law.

Before I call him back, can anyone give me information regarding this 'rule?' Or any tips on dealing with this.

Landlord selling my building: Am I screwed?

logovisual — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 17:26:53 -0800

NYC: Our landlord is selling our building. We have a lease. What's going to happen to us? I just learned on Saturday that our landlord is selling the brownstone we rent the top floor of in Brooklyn. Somebody is already coming by to see the place tomorrow. We have a standard, legal lease; what are a new owner's responsibilities re: this lease, our rent, etc.? Does he/she have to honor them, or are we up shit creek? This is a surprisingly difficult topic to Google... My understanding was that they do have to honor the lease, but informally speaking, if that displeases them, they can make my life very difficult. Am I wrong in this, and they don't have to honor it at all?

Reconciling myself with wasting water?

skryche — Mon, 02 May 2005 10:32:09 -0800

One of the few repairs that needs to be performed on our next apartment is a leaky bathtub faucet. Not mere drips: a constant steady stream of water is wasted. If they are unwilling to fix this leak, would I be silly not to take this otherwise perfect apartment? How guilty should I feel about so much water wastage? No, I won't have to pay the water bill. And the reason they might not be willing to make the repair is that they would have to turn the water off to the entire building, including to the four star restaurant on the ground floor.