Illegal Apartment in Islip, NY (Lima: rental, eviction, credit card)

[dizzydez8784]

Hello,

I have a question about an apartment that I have been living in since 05/07 located in Islip, NY. I had trouble paying my rent for the month of January. (My car broke down) I attempted to pay my landlord using a check through a credit card but she refused it saying that she wanted cash. I didnt think anything of it at the time so me and my landlord made arrangments for me to pay $400 on 01/18, $400 on 01/25 and then $800 on 02/01 to catch up. I went to her on 01/18 to pay the $400 and this is when she advised me that she needs the $800 by 01/20 and that our arrangment is off. She said that if I do not have $800 by 01/20 that I have to move out by 02/01. She also advised that if I decided to stay then she is going to start charging me $950/mth for rent starting 02/01. I tried to advise her that it will be hard for me to pay that but she just said that if she doesnt have the money by the 1st of Feb. then she will just keep my security and I have to move out. I then began to explain to her that I can give her a check for $800 to cover January rent and this is when she explained that she doesnt accept checks because she doesnt have a rental permit for the apartment and she doesnt want her property taxes to increase. Now I would simply just move out and let her keep the security but the problem is I do not have a place to go. She is refusing any money that I am trying to give her and will only accept $800 paid in full for January rent and $950 paid in full for February rent. I have never given her a problem in the past with paying rent, except for this month and December I paid her on the 13th, which she seemed to be okay with, because I had been laid off from my job and needed a little more time. Now what can I do?....I obviously do not want to cause problems, especially by staying in an illegal apartment, however I have no where to go until I save up money to move out. I'm hoping to have money to move out by March 1st. Would she be entitled to any back rent if I move out buy then? Any advice you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You!!

[SteffensRule]

As a landlord, having an illegal apartment is a nightmare of Epic proportions.

Number 1. - By staying in a illegal apartment, technically your landlord may not accept money for an illegal contract. ie. she entered into an illegal contract with you since she legally did not have permission to rent the apartment.

Number 2. - She may only evict you legally, through the landlord tenant courts of Suffolk County. Any attempts to remove your possessions will result in you calling the police and prosecuting her for a forced eviction - the police will be on your side.

Number 3. Inform her that she has an illegal apartment and since this was not revealed upon you entering into the agreement, she has a couple options
- She will refund your security in full on the date you move out. and provide her a move out date and you will not pay her any rent until then. In exchange, you will not contact the town and inform them about her illegal apartment.
-Or, if she wants to insist that you pay or makes attempts to forcefully evict you, you will contact the police, you will report her to the town and you will bring her to landlord / tenant court and you will file a suit in small claims court for her breech of contract.
-Landlords like her prey upon weaker individuals, even though it is them who are wrong.

[LIMA]

LOL SR is right ... When you are doing wrong you gotta deal with ____ sometimes...

[omigawd]

Whatever you do, get it in writing from her and SIGNED by her. Don't let her use a BS signature, either. Have her produce her driver license and take down the number and compare the signatures.

In this case, believe it or not, YOU have the upper hand. Remind her that she hasn't been paying the correct property taxes or INCOME taxes on the income from the apartment. Remind her of all the fines she'll get from the town, fire marshalls, etc. Remind her that she is doing something ILLEGAL.

In the meantime, I wouldn't give her a dime. Put it all in a bank account in case she decides to TRY and take you to LL/T court so you can show the court you ATTEMPTED to pay her, but she refused to take checks (NEVER give a LL cash!!!!). Also, get a locksmith over there to change the locks so she can't illegally evict you.

You have more power right now than she does. Let her know that in no uncertain terms. Do you want me to come over and tell her?? I would LOVE to!!! LOL!!!

[rocafeller05]

You guys are absolutely right. And to boot, it takes months for a judge to order a tenant to be forced out of an illegal apartment. My friend went through this same scenerio and he ended up moving out 8 months later and those 8 months were RENT FREE!! So dont back down, you will win in the end!

[dizzydez8784]

Wow....thanks so much to all of you for the great advice!! I didnt realize how much rights I have!! This is such a relief to know that I won't be homeless LoL.... In the meantime I can save money to find somewhere else to go.

Thanks Again!!

[LIMA]

Lol it's not that you have rights as she is breaking the law

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by LIMA

Lol it's not that you have rights as she is breaking the law

Not to forget, too, that the wheels of justice turn slowly, buying the tenant some extra time.

[tkridel]

When I was in college, a friend rented a horrid basement apartment. One of the sewer lines leaked waste all over his floor. The landlord dismissed it as a minor problem, so he moved out. As he was leaving, he plugged the sinks and shower drains, and then turned on the water. He snapped his key off in the lock. Because the windows were tiny, there was no way for the landlord to shimmy in, so he had to break down the door. But that was a week or so later because he didn't find out until there was so much water that foundation problems created issues that upstairs tenants noticed and reported.

[kicksave]

this has been some of the worst advice i have ever seen on this board..this person is looking to avoid trouble and all you people are telling him is to not pay and "yeah" stiff the landlord!!!!"call the town" " call the police".etc etc!!
Well there are 2 sides to every story!
dizzy, True you may have rights but remember you forfieted those tenents rights when you moved into a illegal apartment so that being said she does sound like she is a bi*ch but causeing her grief will only in turn cause YOURSELF more grief, So pay what you owe and move out. the cops wont even be bothered with you & the town issue will take months and it doesnt sound like you can live there for months without paying, So best is to find another place to live.