Splitting rent (sublet, apartments, rent stabilized apartments)

[canyontothesky]

As the leaseholder of an apartment in which you rent out another/other bedroom(s), but you share your bedroom with someone else, how would you split it?

For example, if you have a two bedroom where you live in one bedroom with your spouse and sublet the other, would you split the rent 3 ways evenly, or would you split it two ways between the two rooms, and you and your spouse then would each be paying 1/4 of the rent (and the other roommate 1/2)? (And if there were more than one person in the other bedroom, then everyone would pay 1/4.) -- And so on, if you have a 3BR, you split it 3 ways and then among however many people occupy rooms.

Also, is there a law in NYC for maximum number of unrelated people living in the same apartment? I know this rule is very often broken if there is one, but I don't know if it would be a law or just a "rule," if it exists, and what the concequences are if "caught."

Considering getting an apartment and subletting instead of living alone with my DBF. Any comments on subletting to others?

[omigawd]

It should be split per person. That's the only fair way of doing it... What if you were renting a room and the other person had 4 people in their room but you were paying 1/2 the rent? Not very fair, is it?

There is some kind of law about the number of unrelated persons living in an apartment but I don't know what it is. I'm sure a simple Google or Bing search would help.

[Henna]

I don't think it should be split per person or per room, but some fair way that you come up with that strikes a balance. In your example about a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 people living in it (2 in one bedroom and one in the other):

each person uses an approximately equal amount of living space - bathroom, kitchen, space in fridge, common bookcases, etc.

however, the two people sharing are not each getting a private space so they should be credited for that.

utilities should definitely be split per person.

[Dewdroplet76]

I think it all depends. When I was sharing an apartment with my friend and her fiance - we split the rent 3 ways because they were sharing a room by choice - it's not like they would have wanted separate bedrooms even if they could have had them. However, when my friend was sharing an apartment with some friends of hers - they did it by room. She shared a room with a girl but one of the other girls had her own room. I don't know if it was split down the middle room by room or if the girl with the room to herself paid more than the other two separately but less than them combined. I think it's fair that if someone has their own room - they should pay more, unless the people sharing a room are involved with each other. But if you are the leaseholder - you can decide how to split things up. Just be fair about it.

[modsquad81]

The law states for rent stabilized apartments:

For the purposes of this subdivision, an occupant's proportionate share shall be determined by dividing the legal regulated rent by the total number of tenants named on the lease and the total number of occupants residing in the subject housing accommodation. However, the total number of tenants named on the lease shall not include a tenant's spouse, and the total number of occupants shall not include a tenant's family member or an occupant's dependent child. Regardless of the number of occupants, tenants named on the lease shall remain responsible for payment to the owner of the entire legal regulated rent. The charging of a rental amount to an occupant that exceeds that occupant's proportionate share shall be deemed to constitute a violation of this Code.

It doesn't matter how much space is given to individual tenants, the law only cares about how many tenants are in the apartment. I bolded this loop hole above, get married! and charge the room mate an arm and a leg. Your other option is to only accept cash for a share situation. This is actually pretty common. The unrelated people thing is not enforced unless you're staking them up like firewood in the apartment.
Why are you posting in this wasteland canyontothesky?

[victorfox]

Originally Posted by modsquad81

Why are you posting in this wasteland canyontothesky?

Modsquad...where do you recommend the OP to post his housing thread then?

[modsquad81]

Originally Posted by victorfox

Modsquad...where do you recommend the OP to post his housing thread then?

Rules for City_Data prohibit the posting of what they consider "competitive" blogs. I've had a post deleted for directing someone to a better source. I know canyontothesky from another blog that is "how you say?" more tenant friendly?

[modsquad81]

Also victorfox, you have to admit the people who respond to Landlord/tenant issues are pretty heavily weighted on the landlord side and/or the LAW verbatim.

[victorfox]

Originally Posted by modsquad81

Rules for City_Data prohibit the posting of what they consider "competitive" blogs. I've had a post deleted for directing someone to a better source. I know canyontothesky from another blog that is "how you say?" more tenant friendly?

There's a reason why I asked because there is this very liberal tenant website that totally bashes Landlords to the point that the mod of that stupid forum (that should be shut down) gives a step-by-step instructions on how to "screw" your landlord. It's a very bias and extreme tenant forum that is soooooo ANTI-LANDLORD. If someone "dares" to post a reply that is "landlord friendly" he deletes the post or calls it "trolling" ...LOL. What an idiot!!!!! In the eyes of the mod on this board, EVERY landlord is greedy and ruthless. He is such a (you know what). Little does he know that he is being monitored by authorities. And I don't mean other landlords.

Modsquad, I'm sure you're familar with the website. It's called ******.net

Ever heard of it? (wink wink) LOL

[modsquad81]

I think you're referring to a site that begins with the letter "T" and ends with a "T". Yes I know the site but it's not the one that I was referring to above.

Little does he know that he is being monitored by authorities

You can't be serious? He sites case law, rules, etc. that are easily verifiable as many of the other posters do. It's his choice to delete stuff as it is City-DAta's choice to delete what ever they want.