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So landlords can do pretty much whatever they want! That's strange.
No, it's not; well at least when you understand the law.
Basic premise of law holds that contracts for illegal are void and unenforceable. If you hire a prostitute and don't pay her (or him), there is nothing the courts or LE can do because the activity is illegal.
As it relates to this thread a lease be it oral or written for an "illegal" apartment is not enforceable because of what one has just said. That and again as have stated and alluded to above the courts hold that persons should perform due diligence. Just as you have done and found out your apartment is likely illegal, someone seeking to rent can and should do the same.
The LL is not getting off scot free; the DOB/city can levy substantial fines against illegal dwellings. That and or if something goes down (fire, loss of life, injury) related to said illegal apartment the LL will be in it up to his neck.
I wouldnt think too much into the 5 versus 15 actual apartments. The DOB had my info incorrect for ages saying my buildings were 2 stories when they are both 4. Also, my apartment count was also incorrect. I divided our lot which created two separate tax lot numbers, for some reason my CO was only showing up on one. I just really wouldnt go off of what you find on ACRIS etc. The only way anything will get updated properly is if your landlord is on top of his/her paperwork which it sounds like he isnt. The DOB hired a huge amount of inspectors... If he was doing anything illegally, im sure they would have found out by now.
Please read my post before commenting and insulting me. Why are you saying I'm messed up if he was illegally charging high rent to me? If he was really illegally charging high rent, is he really a good guy? You are saying I'm trying to mess up his money?? If he has been illegally charging me for 6 years, he is the one who has been messing up my money. I worked very hard to make money to pay the rent every month. If he has been charging all tenants illegally, he has been messing up our money. Why are you accusing me for this??? I don't want to give him troubles but if he has really been illegally charging us, we'll get the money he overcharged us back. During the process, if the city finds out anything bad he did, he'll have to respond to that. Why are you supporting a crime?
You won’t get anything back
You don’t deserve to live somewhere for FREE.
You see using the word “illegal” wrong, an illegal apartment can mean it’s not registered correctly with the DOB or it’s a multi family that has too many units.People rent out rooms or basements and that’s not necessarily illegal. And even if it does it does not entitle renters for any recourse unless the city orders you to vacate immediately in which you have a lease
And the city never orders a vacate unless it’s a huge safety issue. Not registering additional apartments with the dob isn’t. The owner will be fined
Last edited by cheyenne2134; 11-13-2017 at 07:53 AM..
Can you stop commenting on my post without reading my post? I never said I want to live here for free. If he has been overcharging me, I want the difference back and I deserve to get the difference back. If this apartment is illegal, it seems like I might not get anything back from my landlord, but if this place is legal, I could get it back from him. I read some people do get it back.
Can you stop commenting on my post without reading my post? I never said I want to live here for free. If he has been overcharging me, I want the difference back and I deserve to get the difference back. If this apartment is illegal, it seems like I might not get anything back from my landlord, but if this place is legal, I could get it back from him. I read some people do get it back.
Why are you figuring you were overcharged. You both agreed on the rent and it’s rent stabilized? So how are you overcharged?
whatever you do, please come back and update the thread all the way to the conclusion (especially what happened to your friend suing the landlord), thanks!
Why are you figuring you were overcharged. You both agreed on the rent and it’s rent stabilized? So how are you overcharged?
If the unit falls under rent stabilization and the tenant has been charged more than the legally permissible rent, allowing for the vacancy allowance when the tenant first moved in, the tenant has been overcharged, and the landlord is required to credit the tenant. If the place is illegal, the tenant receives nothing, as many people have already mentioned.
Last edited by Moving415; 11-13-2017 at 02:25 PM..
If the place is illegal, she receives nothing, as many people have already told the OP.
Which is why tenants in illegal basement apartments blackmail the landlord instead of going to the authorities. The landlord will get fined like crazy and have all sorts of citations, but then on the other side the tenant is out of an apartment. So it's in the tenant's interest to only threaten to report them in exchange for anything from cash to multiple months of free rent
Can you stop commenting on my post without reading my post? I never said I want to live here for free. If he has been overcharging me, I want the difference back and I deserve to get the difference back. If this apartment is illegal, it seems like I might not get anything back from my landlord, but if this place is legal, I could get it back from him. I read some people do get it back.
There are so many different laws in NYC that I can't try and give you info without knowing more specifics about your situation.
If it is a rent stabilized apartment, you can find out if you were being overcharged by contacting DHCR or HPD.
If the apartment is illegal, there are other things you can do to have the apartment legalized.
If you intend to leave anyway, and the apartment is illegal, you can stop paying rent now, and the landlord won't be able to do anything about it.
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