Illegal apartment help (house, contract, neighbor, room)

[SeventhFloor]

Originally Posted by gradstudent77

The landlord first serves a 30-day eviction notice. If the tenant does not leave in 30 days, the landlord can then file a summary eviction proceeding in Housing Court. It usually takes 1-3 weeks to take the case in front of a judge, who typically gives the tenant 30-60 days to vacate the dwelling. As a result, the entire process will take from two to four months before the tenant is required to leave. In some cases, the court, in its discretion, may grant an adjournment.

^The above is copied and pasted from the first site linked below:

Official Illegal Apartments Page of the Queens Borough President's Office, New YorkCity Local Government

Here's an article about illegal apartments and a change in which court can hear illegal apartment eviction/ejection cases.

Illegal Threes (Gotham Gazette, December 2003)

ejectment cases work a little differently.....since its an illegal apartment, the execution date is usually a lot soon than the 30 days...if my memory serves me right its 7.

[Lou82]

Originally Posted by SeventhFloor

ejectment cases work a little differently.....since its an illegal apartment, the execution date is usually a lot soon than the 30 days...if my memory serves me right its 7.

I asked my lawyer about ejectment cases and he said they take forever.

As far as evicting a tenant from an illegal apt, my lawyer said its up to the judge how long the tenant gets to vacate. It can take months or less than 30 days. My lawyer said he just recently did an eviction case on an illegal apt where the judge gave the tenant 10 days to vacate and thats what he tries to do for all his clients, but its all up to the judge.

[SeventhFloor]

Originally Posted by Lou82

I asked my lawyer about ejectment cases and he said they take forever.

As far as evicting a tenant from an illegal apt, my lawyer said its up to the judge how long the tenant gets to vacate. It can take months or less than 30 days. My lawyer said he just recently did an eviction case on an illegal apt where the judge gave the tenant 10 days to vacate and thats what he tries to do for all his clients, but its all up to the judge.

depends on what sob story the tenant comes up with. and why would an ejectment case take any more longer than a standard holdover? its almost the same procedure except there's one extra person getting served, which is the landlord. if i remember correctly the ejectment cases are called faster because they're processed in a different way at the court.

[Lou82]

Went for the hearing today and these people amaze me. The inspector listed it as Class 1 and said the apartment was hazardous. I asked the judge (or whatever you call the person at the hearing) what was hazardous about it and he mentioned egress. I said "egress? There are 3 exits out of the apartment to get outside." The judge said if thats true then we can have an adjourment and I can take pictures of the apt, and come back for another court date and either get a reduced fine or not pay anything at all.

I also asked the judge if its hazardous why wasnt the tenant asked to vacate and the answer i received was tenants are only asked to vacate if its a "dire situation." If the inspector didnt see the 2nd and 3rd means of egress thats about as dire as it could get.

Also on the report was insufficient lighting and air. Whatever.

Anyway I go back in August, hopefully Ill have the tenant out by then and can beat the fine.

[SeventhFloor]

Originally Posted by Lou82

Went for the hearing today and these people amaze me. The inspector listed it as Class 1 and said the apartment was hazardous. I asked the judge (or whatever you call the person at the hearing) what was hazardous about it and he mentioned egress. I said "egress? There are 3 exits out of the apartment to get outside." The judge said if thats true then we can have an adjourment and I can take pictures of the apt, and come back for another court date and either get a reduced fine or not pay anything at all.

I also asked the judge if its hazardous why wasnt the tenant asked to vacate and the answer i received was tenants are only asked to vacate if its a "dire situation." If the inspector didnt see the 2nd and 3rd means of egress thats about as dire as it could get.

Also on the report was insufficient lighting and air. Whatever.

Anyway I go back in August, hopefully Ill have the tenant out by then and can beat the fine.

just to clarify, you do know what is egress correct? and what is clarified as egress?

[clarita1]

7th floor---somehow the judge liked lou's retort .

........and he mentioned egress. I said "egress? There are 3 exits out of the apartment to get outside." The judge said if thats true then we can have an adjourment and I can take pictures of the apt, and come back for another court date and either get a reduced fine or not pay anything at all.


seems like a decent and fair judge.

[CamillaB]

Since I was impolite in my post I will rephrase it. Original poster with the illegal cellar apartment, I take offense with your calling your TENANT an idiot. They do pay you rent (you did not say they had missed payments) and are living in an uninhabitable space. You did not do your homework in finding out whether this space was legal or illegal BEFORE accepting said tenant. A cellar is not an apartment. A cellar is not even a basement. If you are going to be a landlord, you need know the laws and be in compliance with them, just as you would not want a tenant violating the law and deciding not to pay you because they didn't research their end of the deal. The law goes both ways. You seem to paint yourself a victim where I see the tenant as the true victim since you are the person in power who is profiting off a cellar space and now complaining that you were caught.

[Lou82]

Originally Posted by SeventhFloor

just to clarify, you do know what is egress correct? and what is clarified as egress?

Egress are additional exits leading outside.... no?

A friend of mine actually used to work for the DOB and I had him check out the cellar apt and he said all 3 means of egress are sufficient.

[SeventhFloor]

Originally Posted by Lou82

Egress are additional exits leading outside.... no?

A friend of mine actually used to work for the DOB and I had him check out the cellar apt and he said all 3 means of egress are sufficient.

your friend needs to be fired because cellars are not habitable space.

cellar = 50% or more of height from ceiling to floor is below grade (street curb) level

basement = 50% or more of height from celiing to floor is above grade

thats why you have light and air issues...i do this for a living.

so u acutally have 3 doors that lead straight outside? even if it was a basement i have never seen a set up like that. windows are not egress by the way.

[Lou82]

Originally Posted by CamillaB

Since I was impolite in my post I will rephrase it. Original poster with the illegal cellar apartment, I take offense with your calling your TENANT an idiot. They do pay you rent (you did not say they had missed payments) and are living in an uninhabitable space. You did not do your homework in finding out whether this space was legal or illegal BEFORE accepting said tenant. A cellar is not an apartment. A cellar is not even a basement. If you are going to be a landlord, you need know the laws and be in compliance with them, just as you would not want a tenant violating the law and deciding not to pay you because they didn't research their end of the deal. The law goes both ways. You seem to paint yourself a victim where I see the tenant as the true victim since you are the person in power who is profiting off a cellar space and now complaining that you were caught.

Complaining? I already said I dont care taht I got caught and ill pay the fine and I just want the tenant out. Not sure what you are talking about

Yes, I made a mistake. Ill admit that and Im obviously trying to correct it.

And yes, my tenant is an idiot. The guy called me the other night and accussed me of breaking into his apartment and going through his things when I was out of town all day. You have no idea what type of person this is. Trust me he is a low life idiot as the day is long.

Thanks.