Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-15-2008, 06:54 AM
 
2 posts, read 7,713 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-15-2008, 07:09 AM
 
2 posts, read 7,713 times
Reputation: 11
Default I need some good advice.....

Ok I'm new to this... just found this site and thought I could find some options on what to do... here it goes:
I moved into this apt with a roommate in April (it is in a 2 story house made up of a 2nd fl apt, 1st fl apt and apt in the basement)... part of the lease agreement was that the basement apartment's electric was connected to the first fl apt (ours) and that we would pay the whole bill, but the landlord will reimburse $25 toward the basement apt... fine.....
Then in the beginning of july, my roommate moved out and the landlord lowered the rent for just one person living here (me)... but as part of the New Lease, the $25 is no longer taken off for part of the basement electricity. This means that I pay for the tenant's electric downstairs!!!!
I brought up this concern to the landlord a few weeks ago, but he did not agree to reimburse for part of the electric. He just talked circles around me. Now listen to this!.... the landlord Has NOT had the meter read since April... he finally did last month, so my electric bill went from $55/mnth to $304!!!!!! And you're telling me she is not responsible for any of this?
I feel that he took advantage of a young, single girl in a vunerable situation. He was not clear about this new electricty agreement with the new lease. The new lease says -tenant is aware that basement electricy is connected to 1st floor apartment and is responsible-however, the landlord was very sneaky about it, saying he'll figure something out....
Now my question is.... could that basement apartment possibly be illegal? Is it legal to have 3 apartments in one house in brooklyn? If she does not have her own meter, does that mean it's an illegal apartment down there? Who can I call about this? If it is an illegal apartment, can I use this as leverage to get what's fair out of this????
I absolutely do not want to pay for her electricty anymore, and I definately cannot pay this $300 electric bill myself.
I know this was long, thank you for reading... any advice??????!!!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-15-2008, 02:09 PM
 
33,822 posts, read 47,033,072 times
Reputation: 14149
DM me the address and i'll do some research to see if your apartment's legal
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence

Forum TOS: http://www.city-data.com/forumtos.html
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-03-2009, 08:36 AM
 
4 posts, read 18,889 times
Reputation: 13
Default Living over landlords

I am living under similiar circumstances. I 've been living in a one family dwelling for a little over a year with the landlords living in the basement. The house is on a slant because it was made for a car to be driven down the side and into the garbage. There are also bars on the windows. I don't pay lights and gas because the meter is shared from the basement. I also live in Brooklyn.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-03-2009, 08:47 AM
 
4 posts, read 18,889 times
Reputation: 13
I just went to a website for south bklyn legal services. You can go to the Bklyn. Municipal Building to Rm. 200, 2nd fl. & get the "Block & lot" numbers for the building. Then go to Rm 811 for a copy of certificate of occupany tht tells how many apartments should be in buliding. The clerk can tell you if the basement apartment is legal.
Ther was also very useful info on evictions.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-05-2009, 11:34 PM
 
14 posts, read 94,800 times
Reputation: 24
i believe that you could sue the estate for every single penny that you have spent on the rent for the past 10 years. There might be a time limit on that but I knew someone who actually did it. He rented an illegal room in the basement of a house. because it was an illegal room, but owner ended up having to pay him all the money that she had charged him from the beginning, as well as having to have her basement padlocked by the city for renting out rooms illegally. you should go to tenant/landlord court and ask about having all your money returned to you, and file whatever petitions and forms they ask you to file. what most likely will end up happenining is that you would be allowed to remain there rent free until the case is decided and/or she decides to settle out of court, whichever is sooner.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-07-2009, 12:38 PM
 
58 posts, read 254,348 times
Reputation: 16
If you take it to small claims court you get only $5000 back if you win. If you want everything back you have to take it to civil court. Housing court has nothing to do with getting your rent money back (only the security deposit). That's just for the judge to determine how long you get to stay before you have to vacate. If you try to sue for your money back that can extend the amount of time you get to stay there.

My illegal tenant is trying to do this to me right now. He hired a lawyer and told me he is going to get all his rent money back (than 5 minutes later he wanted to give me rent for the month of April - he's a complete imbecile). Good thing I never gave him one receipt for any month he's paid me since he's been there.

Keep in mind there is no law in NYC that states and illegal tenant is due all the rent money back (my lawyer told me this), its all up the the judge when you take it to court. If the judge feels you knew the apartment was illegal when you moved in you may not win (and you shouldnt).

Im in a sucky situation, best case for me I settle with my tenant out of court. I already made him a nice offer and he declined.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-21-2009, 05:40 PM
 
14 posts, read 94,800 times
Reputation: 24
Mod cut: TOS violation basically, in the situation that I had referred to earlier. the property owner was being harrassed by her tenant and the property owner next door, where buckets of body waste was thrown against her property and smeared on her door. the tenant that she had rented the room to took trash cans form the street and emptied it into her basement. after that, he had the audacity to make a formal complaint with the city and sue the property owner for what the vandalism that he had done himself. this was an elderly woman with a disabled husband, who were living on limited income. she opened her heart to the plight of a homeless man who was going around asking for room to rent. it was after this happened and he sued her that he started bragging that he went around sunset park purposely looking for victims. yes, she make a big mistake in renting him an illegal room in the basement, but he should have been held accountable for what he did. Mod cut: TOS violation I tried to help her. i even offered to take her to the precinct to file reports for crimes committed against her (treapassing, attempt assault, breaking & entering). but the problem was that people visiting her were watched and interrogated as they entered and left her home. it was bad. there were three houses next to eachother. the property owner in the first house was threatening and harrassing the elderly property owner and the third property owner as well, i believe in an attempt to run them out and get the houses cheaply.

Last edited by Viralmd; 05-21-2009 at 06:32 PM.. Reason: TOS violation
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:




Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top