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I am a single mother with 3 teens and work very hard at being a good mother and provider. But now i am have some issues with my landlord who did not want me to sign a lease with him and now he is trying to add all kinds of stuff my way. I have been living in my house for 9 months and i love this house, so does my kids. I have not missed a month in paying my rent, but i have been late. This month have been the hardest for me i ended up paying on the 19th which i never did, and now he wants to charge me 1% per day everyday my rent is late, and now me and my kids have not showered in over a week and he won't provide us with oil and he is responsibile, do he have the right to do any of this. Please can someone help me and my family!
For the 1% per day late charge, you need to check your lease. Is this penalty in there? If it is and you signed the lease, you agreed to it. If it is not, and he just made this up, he cannot do it. Tell him it is not in the lease and to take you to court if he so desires. He will lose.
As for the hot water, tomorrow call up the Heating Emergency Hotline of whichever county you live in. I know Nassau's inspectors come out and they will take the actual temperature of the hot water. Let them penalize your landlord and force him to do the right thing legally.
It is warm today so everyone take a cold shower! It is not so bad, I've done it myself. Get cleaned up at least.
Good luck and sorry your landlord is so unreasonable. Landlords around here are spoiled and think they can get away with murder. I have relatives who are landlords in other states and you would not believe what the tenants demand. Recently some prospective tenants actually told one to take away the "for sale" sign on the apartment building they were looking at an apartment in and not sell the building because they want to live there for at least 3 years and they want their child to know he has a stable home! LOL! I told my relative I'd like to see a tenant on LI actually even say that to a landlord let alone think the landlord would obey their orders!
I am a single mother with 3 teens and work very hard at being a good mother and provider. But now i am have some issues with my landlord who did not want me to sign a lease with him and now he is trying to add all kinds of stuff my way. I have been living in my house for 9 months and i love this house, so does my kids. I have not missed a month in paying my rent, but i have been late. This month have been the hardest for me i ended up paying on the 19th which i never did, and now he wants to charge me 1% per day everyday my rent is late, and now me and my kids have not showered in over a week and he won't provide us with oil and he is responsibile, do he have the right to do any of this. Please can someone help me and my family!
unfourtunetly like trying to get the grocery store to give you free food becaause you have no money its just business...
landlords rely on timely rent payments to make their own payments and one or 2 late tenants can really tail spin cash flow.
there is a tendancy for folks to think when hard times come their landlords are family.... they are not , the same way you demand to be payed at work on time every week for whatever it is you do for a living the landlord wants and needs to get payed on time for his living....
if it sounds a little cold i apologize but its just business. the rent is someones lively hood and income the same as your job is to you.
as far as the late payements go most states have no laws pertaining to late fees other then a court may decide 30% a month isnt reasonable while 5% is reasonable . if you have no lease one is implied by new york state or local laws so its not like you have no lease, you do but its month to month...there is nothing that says he can charge you a late fee if its not in writing but there is nothing that says he cant... if he is smart he should let you know in writing that if you are late again there will be a fee..that way hes covered .its up to a court to decide if its legal .
the fact is if rent is due on the first and the landlord is extending a courtesy until say the 15th before late fees are charged that dosnt mean your not late on the 14th or 15th. the rent is due on the 1st, anything after that is late, they just arent penalizing you yet...
Last edited by mathjak107; 03-21-2010 at 02:04 PM..
Unless you signed a lease with the 1% clause in it I don't think he can make you pay it. I believe he does have to provide hot water, even if you are late.
You may need to find a house you can afford though. You mentioned you have been late more than once in 9 months. No matter how hard working you are your landlord deserves to get the rent on time so you may want to consider finding a home that better fits your finances - you don't get any points for 'not missing a month'.
On your lease, who is responsible for the oil. As a landlord, i know that my tenant is responsible for it ; otherwise she would be paying at least $1000 more per month at the rate she keeps the heat on ; it is kept up to 80 with windows open in the winter!!!
As a landlord, I have to provide the heating system but not the oil.
Also as landlord, If my tenants are late, I am late on my mortgage because I depend on the rent coming in to pay the mortgage. That is why the landlord is probably charging a fee ; I woudlnt do it, but thats me. I also spent 3 hours last week picking up trash that my tenent refused to pick up even though it was her own trash that had blown over!!
I am not sure of the spelling but in NY you are not allowed to charge more than 25% a year in interest......at 1% a day......that works out to 365% a year......the Usary Laws in NY are very specific and I can promise you that jail time for your landlord would be very possible......not to mention the manitory fines......if you can prove your claim...report him to the police...NYS Attorney General...Land Lord Tenant Court...Internal Revenue Service...etc...I can promise you his life will be under the microscope for the next several years as they review all his financial dealing...
The law was passed to control the shy-locks who lend you money and charge 10 or 15% a week...perhaps you could hire a lawyer and sue the A-Hole...I am sure he would love that on top of all the other problems you will be creating for him....have fun...
I am a single mother with 3 teens and work very hard at being a good mother and provider. But now i am have some issues with my landlord who did not want me to sign a lease with him and now he is trying to add all kinds of stuff my way. I have been living in my house for 9 months and i love this house, so does my kids. I have not missed a month in paying my rent, but i have been late. This month have been the hardest for me i ended up paying on the 19th which i never did, and now he wants to charge me 1% per day everyday my rent is late, and now me and my kids have not showered in over a week and he won't provide us with oil and he is responsibile, do he have the right to do any of this. Please can someone help me and my family!
The bolded bit is peculiar. He did not want YOU to sign a lease with him? Why in the world did HE sign a lease with you instead of simply refuse to rent to you? That is so weird!
Are you renting the WHOLE house or part of the house? Usually when someone is renting the WHOLE house, they, the renter, pays for the heat/oil. (However, since you have been there 9 months already, I suppose he has taken responsibility for the heating oil so far or you would have noticed not having any before this.)
I am a single mother with 3 teens and work very hard at being a good mother and provider. But now i am have some issues with my landlord who did not want me to sign a lease with him and now he is trying to add all kinds of stuff my way. I have been living in my house for 9 months and i love this house, so does my kids. I have not missed a month in paying my rent, but i have been late. This month have been the hardest for me i ended up paying on the 19th which i never did, and now he wants to charge me 1% per day everyday my rent is late, and now me and my kids have not showered in over a week and he won't provide us with oil and he is responsibile, do he have the right to do any of this. Please can someone help me and my family!
He more than likely "do have the right" to take some sort of action... If you agreed to pay the rent by the 1st of the month and haven't been doing so then you are the underdog. Its all business no matter how you slice it... the guy trusted you to pay on time and you haven't. Same as a bank or a credit card... maybe you can revisit your budget and make a few cuts here and there for non neccessities, aka hair salon, coffee on the road, candy, nails being done, etc... just a few examples. It is crazy how we "dollar or two" ourselves sometimes....
Landlords have bills to pay as well. We all have our struggles. I hate to say it but your lateness isreally unacceptable. I do not blame him for charging you a late fee. That is the way it goes. Did you ever think that your late payments may be making him late for his bills. Perhaps this is a wake-up call. Kids bounce back very quickly. Maybe there is something else out there for you that is a little cheaper. As for him not giving you any heat, that is against the law. You should print out that information and give it to him.
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They Call It Usary!!
...at 1% a day...
...that works out to 365% a year...
...the Usary Laws in NY are very specific and I can promise you that jail time for your landlord would be very possible...
...not to mention the manitory fines...
...if you can prove your claim...report him to the police...NYS Attorney General...Land Lord Tenant Court...Internal Revenue Service...etc...I can promise you his life will be under the microscope for the next several years as they review all his financial dealing...
