NYC Apartment Lease Renewal Question (apartments, rental, lawyer)

[garyalex]

Hello,

I have a question I'm hoping someone can answer. I live in a rent stabilized building. My current lease expires 9/30. I recently accepted the landlord's renewal offer and sent the signed renewal back to the landlord.

Today, I received the lease back with a letter stating that the increase would be higher than what was stated in the renewal offer. This is because the guideline was increased by the Rent Guidelines Board after I'd signed the renewal offer.

My question is, do I have any recourse in breaking the new lease? The Rent Guidelines Rider I signed contains language which refers to the tenant's right to terminate the new lease without penalty if the increase was due to owner hardship. I don't think that has anything to do with my situation but I'd like to be certain.

Thanks

[Kefir King]

If I assume your lease STARTS the first second of 10/1/2011 then you got caught right on the cusp of that large increase (to 3.75/7.25%.) One day earlier and you'd have saved a bundle at the older lower rates. You must be furious...I'd be.

I am not sure but I THINK that since the terms of the lease have been changed by the landlord and has thus become a new contract which you have not assented to that you have a legal right to accept or not accept the revised terms and thus walk away if you wish. Anything else would seem to offend common sense.
I guess it would be as simple as telling the landlord "I do not accept the higher rent!" To buy time you might just write him a check for the original amount and see what he does...he might accept it? If not, put it in escrow and start looking for a new place.

But perhaps City law has specifics governing the case since I'm sure it has happened frequently in the past. I guess there is the slightest possibility, but only the slightest, that the original request remains in effect because the law specifies a landlrd can seek an increase "up to" the Guidines increase, as yours did. But don't be the farm on it. I tried reading the new law but there is so much about deregulating apartments and ONLY deregulating apartments that I got a headache and stopped.
(Maybe somebody else can quote chapter and verse on this...like I said, it must be happening all over the City.)

Don't you just love it when Bush/Obama rattle on about NO INFLATION and thus no social security cost of living increases and yet rents go up 7.25%?

[Mr. Klato]

Originally Posted by garyalex

Hello,

I have a question I'm hoping someone can answer. I live in a rent stabilized building. My current lease expires 9/30. I recently accepted the landlord's renewal offer and sent the signed renewal back to the landlord.

Today, I received the lease back with a letter stating that the increase would be higher than what was stated in the renewal offer. This is because the guideline was increased by the Rent Guidelines Board after I'd signed the renewal offer.

My question is, do I have any recourse in breaking the new lease? The Rent Guidelines Rider I signed contains language which refers to the tenant's right to terminate the new lease without penalty if the increase was due to owner hardship. I don't think that has anything to do with my situation but I'd like to be certain.

Thanks

You might be able to break it since the terms have been revised and you did not sign a new contract with the new terms for the new lease. If you want to break the lease, you might as well contact the LL now and tell him the situation.

[garyalex]

You both make good points. Thanks very much for the responses.

[citychik]

Hi GaryAlex,

While it is true that the increases are supposed to take effect on Oct. 1, the percentages were made public at the end of June, so it is the landlord's fault not to have the correct percentage on the lease. I would think that both of you are legally bound to the lease you already approved and signed. Generally, if a written offer is made and accepted, the contract is irrevocable unless stipulated somewhere that it can be revoked. I am not sure if the validity of the contract is still dependent upon the landlord signing it, too, after the offer was made. I would think that even if the landlord didn't sign it, you don't have to sign a new one because they made a mistake and that was the offer you accepted.

If I were you, I'd talk to a tenant advocacy group or a lawyer to see if he can legally revoke the offer. NYS contract law is very clear (but the textbook I have doesn't cover housing law and rental leases/contracts). I suppose you now have to decide if you will accept the new one. However, if you do accept the higher rent, the increased amount doesn't have to start until 90 days after you received this revised lease renewal (see "HPD's Guide to your Rights as a Tenant" - the landlord is required to give you 90 days before the new term starts). If you want to know for sure what the increases are supposed to be, go online and check out the latest - Apartment/Loft Order #43: NYC Rent Guidelines Board

By the way, keeping abreast of what the increase will be helps you to decide whether or not to sign a 1- or 2-year lease for the best outcome, so always keep this site bookmarked in your browser.

Additionally, if you think the landlord is up to something fishy and you want to make sure your rent is what it's supposed to be, you can ask for a history of rent increases for your apartment by calling the DHCR at 718-739-6400. They send it to you in the mail.

[hilltopjay]

Originally Posted by citychik

Hi GaryAlex,

While it is true that the increases are supposed to take effect on Oct. 1, the percentages were made public at the end of June, so it is the landlord's fault not to have the correct percentage on the lease. I would think that both of you are legally bound to the lease you already approved and signed. Generally, if a written offer is made and accepted, the contract is irrevocable unless stipulated somewhere that it can be revoked. I am not sure if the validity of the contract is still dependent upon the landlord signing it, too, after the offer was made. I would think that even if the landlord didn't sign it, you don't have to sign a new one because they made a mistake and that was the offer you accepted.

If I were you, I'd talk to a tenant advocacy group or a lawyer to see if he can legally revoke the offer. NYS contract law is very clear (but the textbook I have doesn't cover housing law and rental leases/contracts). I suppose you now have to decide if you will accept the new one. However, if you do accept the higher rent, the increased amount doesn't have to start until 90 days after you received this revised lease renewal (see "HPD's Guide to your Rights as a Tenant" - the landlord is required to give you 90 days before the new term starts). If you want to know for sure what the increases are supposed to be, go online and check out the latest - Apartment/Loft Order #43: NYC Rent Guidelines Board

By the way, keeping abreast of what the increase will be helps you to decide whether or not to sign a 1- or 2-year lease for the best outcome, so always keep this site bookmarked in your browser.

Additionally, if you think the landlord is up to something fishy and you want to make sure your rent is what it's supposed to be, you can ask for a history of rent increases for your apartment by calling the DHCR at 718-739-6400. They send it to you in the mail.

So you mean to tell me if the Landlord made a mistake and calculated the rent increase with the lower percentage figures instead of the CORRECT higher percentage that take into effect 10/1, then he's stuck charging the lower percentage because the renewal leases have been signed and made "official".

Ok so I guess that holds true if the tables were turned and the Landlord charged the tenant the higher percentage increase instead of the lower and the renewal lease has already been signed making it official...then the tenant is stuck paying the higher rent percentage without reverting back to the correct percentage increase right? ....Is that what you're saying?

[Kefir King]

I think I read in some convoluted legalese jargon something to the effect that most stabilized renewal leases can say or be impled to say that if the rent board determines a higher rate after the offer has gone out, the landlord can amend the offering.
(I'll go 90% with that...)

I KNOW the rider can be put in legally, one of the very few allowed, but the slight uncertainty comes from whether it can be implied if not specifically appended.