Illegal Apartment in Islip, NY (rent, house, purchase)

[Nevar242]

Wonderfull, we get to pay the school taxes so you can feel better about some "SINGLE" mom of two [ tell her get birth control next time]. You sound like a slum lord. Good thing you don't live on my block. Your Butt would be in court.

[sickofnyc99]

Well I'm glad you are an unrepentant law breaker. You're the reason people become republican. Happily spending MY money so you feel better. Awesome. So what happens when there's a fire and some poor VOLUNTEER dies or gets injured because you wanted to "help". How good will you feel then??

Are these "forgotten people" the same as the "underserved" of our population?

Please don't dare to even comment when some "poor soul" you rent to wrecks your house and you have no recourse.

[LIgirl74]

I work for RE attorneys and I can tell you that being it is an illegal apartment, she can't do anything to you as far as getting you out otherwise, she would be in big trouble herself for having an illegal rental.

If I were you, I would pay her when you can as the original arrangements if you can't pay any other way. I understand she doesn't accept checks as when I rented one of my landlord's wouldn't accept checks as well b/c it was an illegal apt. and they don't want to get caught. I don't see how it could affect her to take a check for one payment. I would never say to live there rent free as that is totally wrong. I say, pay her on the payment arrangement you had for this month and then pay her the original rental amount as you were doing before you lost your job/had to pay to have your car fixed. In the meantime, try to save up some money (if you can) and try to look for another apt. Like I said, legally, there's nothing she can do to get you out b/c it's an illegal rental and she would just get herself into trouble. BUT keep paying the original rental amount until you can find another place.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by arangoa79

I own one of those mother daughters, my wife and I bought the house in 2004. We paid the mortgage on our own for three months with plenty of disposable income left over. I then decided to rent the apartment upstairs since we don't use it. Illegal? yes, but I decided to help out someone in need. I rented it out to a single mother with two kids and only charged her $500 inc. utilities. This is a place I could easily get 1500 for. Her previous home was smaller, dirty and rent was 1,200 not inc. utilities. She moved out last year due to finishing her nurses certification which she was able to get because the money she saved in rent she used for a babysitter to allow her to go to school. We since moved but decided to keep the house and expand our aid. Now there are two families living there for $500 each, all we ask in return for the low rent is to show us that they are enrolled in any program that will better their future. The house is illegally rented but it is serving a higher purpose.

You are a very, very kind person to give such discount rent to help others out. MOST people would not and are all out for themselves!

However, that being said, if I were you I would unload the house OR just rent it as a single family home. Don't you live out in Wisconsin now? What if someone turns the house in and you have to come to court? As you posted, the town is aware of the property since you said you tried to get them to make it legal and they wouldn't do it. If someone turns you in, they would be sure to come after you, especially for not "obeying" their decision.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by LIgirl74

I work for RE attorneys and I can tell you that being it is an illegal apartment, she can't do anything to you as far as getting you out otherwise, she would be in big trouble herself for having an illegal rental.

If I were you, I would pay her when you can as the original arrangements if you can't pay any other way. I understand she doesn't accept checks as when I rented one of my landlord's wouldn't accept checks as well b/c it was an illegal apt. and they don't want to get caught. I don't see how it could affect her to take a check for one payment. I would never say to live there rent free as that is totally wrong. I say, pay her on the payment arrangement you had for this month and then pay her the original rental amount as you were doing before you lost your job/had to pay to have your car fixed. In the meantime, try to save up some money (if you can) and try to look for another apt. Like I said, legally, there's nothing she can do to get you out b/c it's an illegal rental and she would just get herself into trouble. BUT keep paying the original rental amount until you can find another place.

On page 3 the OP posted that her landlady had an attorney send a letter threatening her. (Somebody has to graduate at the bottom of the class in law school too!)

[LIgirl74]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

On page 3 the OP posted that her landlady had an attorney send a letter threatening her. (Somebody has to graduate at the bottom of the class in law school too!)

Since there's nothing she can legally do, that note was probably just a threat to scare them. I know attorneys will do this as a tactic at times like this. BUT OP understand reality is they can't do anything b/c it's an illegal rental.

[totallyfrazzled]

Originally Posted by arangoa79

I own one of those mother daughters, my wife and I bought the house in 2004. We paid the mortgage on our own for three months with plenty of disposable income left over. I then decided to rent the apartment upstairs since we don't use it. Illegal? yes, but I decided to help out someone in need. I rented it out to a single mother with two kids and only charged her $500 inc. utilities. This is a place I could easily get 1500 for. Her previous home was smaller, dirty and rent was 1,200 not inc. utilities. She moved out last year due to finishing her nurses certification which she was able to get because the money she saved in rent she used for a babysitter to allow her to go to school. We since moved but decided to keep the house and expand our aid. Now there are two families living there for $500 each, all we ask in return for the low rent is to show us that they are enrolled in any program that will better their future. The house is illegally rented but it is serving a higher purpose.

What your post boils down to is claiming that "the end justifies the means" ... always a huge can of worms to open in any discussion (especially when the "means" involves any degree of breaking the law).

[jamie1219]

Originally Posted by Shatay143

I must admit, reading this thread makes me second guess people today. Do any of you realize the state of the economy today? Do you know how high taxes and rent is in Long Island, NYC and several other cities? Now I can sympathize with a tenant that has lost his/her job and still makes attempts to pay the rent, in that specific case and without really knowing any further"truth" to that story it sounds like a crappy deal. BUT, what kind of people are in this thread that throw ideas of "calling the town" and reporting the illegal apartment to try and "stick it to the landlord"?
There are many homeowners that have fell under hard times and renting out a garage or basement is the only way to keep their homes. Answer this, which is better, to live on a street with a foreclosed home or live on a street with an illegal apartment? Is it possible that towns like Brookhaven make it so difficult and expensive to legalize an apartment that it sometimes leave homeowners between a rock and a hard place?
I do not condone breaking the law! I am a dedicated, hard working member of the Armed Forces. Several years ago, prior to joining the military (as the war began to serve my country and do my part) I bought a home in Brookhaven. I have been renting my garage which is a lovely apartment. I have wonderful hard working tenants that without a low cost apartment would not be able to live in Brookhaven. Well someone called the town and reported the apartment, probably my creepy neighbor. Now I either tear out the entire Kitchen ( stove, cabinets,spackle over plumbing and electric) or I face fines, court and all kinds of other troubles.
I unfortunately can not afford to pay the mortgage without rental income and Brookhaven will not legalize a detached garage without costly remodeling to connect the garage to the house, which they may still not agree to legalize.
My point is this... It is true I am in the wrong for renting an illegal apartment no matter how well built it is. But what kind of Americans have my husband and I fought for in the war that try to "stick it" to eachother. I am a good person and landlord and I have provided a very nice living space for good people. The law is not always right. We should never encourage anyone not to pay their rent, the homeowner has bills to pay as well.
MAybe instead of waisting time encouraging "hurting your neighbor"we should right our lawmakers to change the laws. Can we at least agree that creating an easier less costly path for homeowners to have apartments on a property they "own" could help relieve some of the homeowners economical crisis we are in?
Let's keep one thing in mind as well... When a tenant looses their job and can not pay their rent that they agreed to pay the LL should not have to carry the burden of another person they have to support. Good luck to you all and i hope that none of you run into tough times that call for tough decisions.
On this day because of this thread I am ashamed to be an American.

This is a reflection of how out of touch the housing costs on long island are, as well as the problems associated with a lack of rent control (rental unit prices of apt complexes are just plain scary). When we were looking for houses, we had plenty of real estate agents showing us houses that were above our price range and justifying it because of the potential to illegaly rent. It is however, hard to feel too much sympathy for those in your situation, because your willingness to buy something priced unrealistically, only allowed the prices to remain high for the rest of us. I have to agree with cott!

[jamie1219]

'And it's sad that people need to chop up their homes to make ends meet, really it is. I do feel for them but then again I don't. You should see some of the "apartments" we saw when we looked. I don't know how anyone can justify asking a person to PAY to live in these places. Haphazardly thrown together, with obvious violations of building codes. Basements which stunk of mildew and mold and had but one window.'


We looked at one ground level apartment, easily under 1000 square feet, in which the land lord was in the process of putting the kitchen in the basement! He was asking 1500/mos for it!

[arangoa79]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

You are a very, very kind person to give such discount rent to help others out. MOST people would not and are all out for themselves!

However, that being said, if I were you I would unload the house OR just rent it as a single family home. Don't you live out in Wisconsin now? What if someone turns the house in and you have to come to court? As you posted, the town is aware of the property since you said you tried to get them to make it legal and they wouldn't do it. If someone turns you in, they would be sure to come after you, especially for not "obeying" their decision.

Thank you, I try to help to the most of my ability. I could give money but I'm not sure where that money would go. At least this way they are encouraged to make changes.

I do live in WI, for now at least. As for the town finding out I'm not worried, I'll pay the 4K fine then I'll just rent one of the floors out. The money is not a issue. I could sell the house but it does better in my hands.