Have a question about my lease? (apartment, rental, lawyer)

[thiermx]

My landlord made me sign a lease for my apartment n i just found out that it's illegal. It doesn't have a stove in there so if the town comes in for a search then they would have the impression that it is a legal apartment. Anyway part of the lease says that both parties [landlord and tenant] agress that the place is legal and another part stated that if one part of the lease is not enforceable by law then it doesn't mean that the other provisions can be voided as well. I'm not saying the exact words of the lease but my question is that am i still binded to the lease even though the apartment is not legal?

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by thiermx

My landlord made me sign a lease for my apartment n i just found out that it's illegal. It doesn't have a stove in there so if the town comes in for a search then they would have the impression that it is a legal apartment. Anyway part of the lease says that both parties [landlord and tenant] agress that the place is legal and another part stated that if one part of the lease is not enforceable by law then it doesn't mean that the other provisions can be voided as well. I'm not saying the exact words of the lease but my question is that am i still binded to the lease even though the apartment is not legal?

No. That is the most ridiculous lease I have ever heard of.

Haven't you posted asking about this before?

If you want to move, just move. If you want to be nice, give him 30-days notice that you are moving. When you move, make sure you leave the place broom clean and take pictures to show you did not damage anything.

If he says you can't leave because of the lease say, "So, sue me." Those exact words. Then move. He will not even bother to sue you (99.9% certain). He is not going to recover anything in court for whatever time remains with such a lease and such an apartment even if he were to bring this to court.

The right thing to do is to pay the rent up until you leave even if the apartment is not legal because you DO live there.

Some people will say live out the security deposit because he's already got the money, even though this is not supposed to be the function of the security deposit.

If you don't live out the security and he gives you trouble about getting your security deposit back, the NYS Attorney General's office has a form you can fill out for them to mediate getting it back. They had to do this because so many landlords will lie to and cheat the tenants.

[thiermx]

Originally Posted by I_Love_LI_but

No. That is the most ridiculous lease I have ever heard of.

Haven't you posted asking about this before?

If you want to move, just move. If you want to be nice, give him 30-days notice that you are moving. When you move, make sure you leave the place broom clean and take pictures to show you did not damage anything.

If he says you can't leave because of the lease say, "So, sue me." Those exact words. Then move. He will not even bother to sue you (99.9% certain). He is not going to recover anything in court for whatever time remains with such a lease and such an apartment even if he were to bring this to court.

The right thing to do is to pay the rent up until you leave even if the apartment is not legal because you DO live there.

Some people will say live out the security deposit because he's already got the money, even though this is not supposed to be the function of the security deposit.

If you don't live out the security and he gives you trouble about getting your security deposit back, the NYS Attorney General's office has a form you can fill out for them to mediate getting it back. They had to do this because so many landlords will lie to and cheat the tenants.

yeah you're right I'll just tell him i'm gonna leave...I was holding back because in the other thread that i started someone said that the landlord could certainly sue me. I wrote back but he didn't say anything else after that.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by thiermx

yeah you're right I'll just tell him i'm gonna leave...I was holding back because in the other thread that i started someone said that the landlord could certainly sue me. I wrote back but he didn't say anything else after that.

In the USA, we can sue ANYBODY for ANYTHING technically (actually submit the initial lawsuit and a judge will decide if it has merit).

Your LL would be throwing good money after bad if he were to sue you for leaving. Hiring a lawyer and possibly exposing himself to scrutiny of Town officials if a judge wants to check if his house legally CAN have an apartment. Another thing is, even if he were to win (which I doubt since the lease is on an illegal apartment) the rent for the rest of your term, how would he collect if you are just a student? He'd have to be nuts.

I said 99.9% he wouldn't sue you. I put the 0.1% in there because some people are SO STUBBORN that they WILL do things that will just backfire in their faces. If he were to sue you, I don't see it going anywhere positive for him.

He is an idiot not to let you go. I don't own rental property, but I have relatives who do and they ALWAYS will let someone out of the lease if the person says they lost their job or they cannnot pay the rent anymore or they are having some kind of financial emergency and have to leave.

Why try and force someone to stay who is having financial problems because they will end up living there for free and the LL will have to pay to evict them. It's just dumb on his part not to move on and find another tenant and the sooner you leave, the better.