Rachel Maddow Pwns "Formerly" Gay Author Who "Cures" Gays
Teacher Hot For Teacher In Brooklyn High School
Bouncers Accused of Beating Gay Man for Dancing with Man
Police Fatally Shoot Gun-Wielding Man In Times Square
MTV Staffers Receiving Threats Over Jersey Shore
Help me out please. I looove my apartment. The price is right, the location is stellar, but the landlord company leaves much to be desired. It is now January and they are finally notifying me that my lease is expired, as of October. They are pressuring me to come in and resign the lease from October, at which time they are going to raise the rent and make me pay back rent (back rent = the difference in the new higher rent vs. the rent I have been paying all along).
I understand I need a lease to keep my apartment, but what's the deal with paying back rent? Isn't it the landlord's responsibility to notify me when my lease is up to resign? Is it legal to make me pay that extra back rent? They pulled this stick last year and I paid the rent, but now I can't help but feel scammed...
-Michelle
It is the landlord's responsibility to notify you of lease renewal terms in a timely manner. Legally, he is supposed to let you know 90 to 150 days before your lease expires. (In theory, you then would have 60 days to accept the terms.) Your landlord dropped the ball; the Rent Guidelines Board recommends lodging a formal complaint with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal. (You want form RA-90 from here.)
About the back rent: this seems suspicious. You shouldn't have to pay anything until a new agreement is signed. (And, if you're in a rent stabilized apartment, the rent can only be increased by a certain amount.)
Housing court tends to err on the side of the tenants; it might not come to that, but you should point out to your landlord that, by law, you should have had the renewal lease last September. If the landlord is faced with legal action, he might forego the back rent. Also, if your landlord wants back rent, that all needs to be in writing.
See also: From the Rent Guidelines Board, lease renewal FAQ, the lease renewal laws for 2005, and the housing court guidelines.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Your landlord is scamming you, which sucks.
I don't mean any offense, but how could you not know which month your lease ends? Your lack of followup and the fact this *already* happened before has painted a big "sucker" sign on your forehead.
Read about tenant rights here:
www.housingnyc.com
And if your landlord scammed you out of money last year, and it's a scam that you can prove, you can get triple damages back (if you're rent stabilized).
But if her lease has an automatic renewal provision (not saying it does) that would deem staying past the end date consent to the new lease, then she might be stuck, right?
The *exact* same thing happened to me and my husband. Their office made the mistake and forgot to send us a renewal, then tried to make up for the 'lost' amount by saying we owed thousands of dollars in back rent. Def file a complaint and if landlord doesn't back down, take it to court. THis is classic New York landlord scam-arama.
The guidelines for renewal lease notification is for Rent Stabilized apartments only.
Here's the link below, even if it automatically renewed they must notify you beforehand
http://housingnyc.com/html/resources/attygenguide.html#2
Love you Gothamist (and fellow posters)! Thanks to your tips and information, I handled the landlord situation perfectly and when I resigned the lease this year... there was no back rent.
You are all simply fabulous!