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Just received a phone call from my landlord saying that she needs the apartment I currently live in. I live in a two family house and she is an off the premises landlord. I rent month to month no lease. I live here since 2005.
She said that her husband and her are divorcing and that they need this apartment for him. She said they might even be selling the whole house, but she is not sure yet.
She said she would like to have the apartment by January 1st.
This is just terrible news and I am in new kind of condition to move right now.
On a month to month lease, I believe she has the right to give you at least 30 day notice and take back the apartment. Why did you not sign a lease if you are in no condition to move?
Just received a phone call from my landlord saying that she needs the apartment I currently live in. I live in a two family house and she is an off the premises landlord. I rent month to month no lease. I live here since 2005.
She said that her husband and her are divorcing and that they need this apartment for him. She said they might even be selling the whole house, but she is not sure yet.
She said she would like to have the apartment by January 1st.
This is just terrible news and I am in new kind of condition to move right now.
Do I have any rights in this situation?
Any info would be appreciated. thanks
You have no right to stay there if she wants the apartment. Start looking for a new place asap!
I agree,
Without a lease she can displace you with a month's notice.
The only "rights" you have would be to stay on for a while longer and force her into a court holdover/eviction action. That might buy you a couple months and a judge might give you a couple more if you successfully plead hardship.
But the inevitable will win out...you need to move.
Have you tried to convince her to make the OTHER tenant move out for her soon to be ex-husband? Perhaps offer her a little more rent?
I am looking for another place now...just seems that since the hurricane hit so hard here in Staten Island, the apartments are scarce.
I work for a lawyer so I am going to ask his advice.
Go ahead and ask the lawyer -- maybe there is some tricky stuff he/she can suggest, like if you don't receive the notice in writing (you mentioned it was a phone call) perhaps that buys you extra time.
However, know that by doing this you are in the wrong. A month to month lease means just that. If the situation were reversed, how would you feel...if you gave her 30 days notice and she told you no, it's not convenient for her to have you leave so you must stay and continue to pay the rent til she's ready?
I suppose another thing you could do is stay and face eviction. This generally buys people time, but I imagine it's stressful (especially living in a house where you could face harassment) and then you would have a strike against you by having an eviction on your record.
It is a lot easier to tell a person "just move" than it is to actually pull it off. It's really tough to find something tolerable and then actually pull off the complete move in a 30 day window.
I think the law should be changed to a 60 day notice, given the low vacancy rate of NYC. I think most judges would agree and that's why most judges will usually grant an extension.
But I agree...unless you are rent CONTROLLED, don't live anywhere without at least a one year lease, it just exposes you to a potential nightmare.
Lawyer said he will contact the attorney as soon as I am served with any kind of notice to inform him that it's next to impossible to expect me to move by January 1st being that it is a holiday and since apartments on Staten Island are scarce after the storm.
He also said he will order a copy of the deed to the property to see if the wife even has any kind of rights to evict me (meaning that the property might not even be in her name). It might buy me some more time. Times like this I am glad I am a paralegal and work for lawyers.
Meanwhile, I am looking and hoping for the best.
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