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Before I met partner he had just moved into a small West Village 1 bedroom. A slight acquaintance "gave" him a rent CONTROLLED apartment on Commerce Street he had been renting. A few days before the original tenant moved out partner told landlord that he had taken over the apartment and landlord said "Okay, just pay the rent on time." He did for two years and I lived there about 6 months while keeping a much larger apartment in Jersey City.
Original tenant came back more than a year later and said "I'm back and I want my apartment."
Landlord basically told him to f*** off and he did. He said he wanted his bed back and we told him just come and get it...he did. It must have been worth $1.50. We kept the apartment a few months more and realized we could not both fit into it and we could not afford two rents on an ongoing basis so we went to Jersey City where I also had a rent controlled apartment.
So basically the landlord chose the tenant he like better...in this case the one that paid his rent on time.
Had that apartment been bigger, we would still be there decades later. Commerce Street is one of the prettiest in the City.
Kefir King I'm sorry to hear you went through that but happy that it ended up working out for you in the end. The main difference is that my ex-friend always knew she was there temporarily. Furthermore, she is suing me for not paying rent for the year when I never lived with her. Nor did I ever say I would live with her. I always used the words sublet. I always told her she would be responsible for the full rent. For godsakes she paid less than she would have paid for a just a tiny room. I wish there was some way I could force my landlord to take some responsibility in this matter. It is not my fault that they gave this person the impression that they could legally sign the lease. It is not my fault that they now refuse to leave. I have renewed the lease and have the right to move back at the start of the lease date. Shouldn't they take some responsibility in making this person leave?
It is not my fault that they gave this person the impression that they could legally sign the lease. It is not my fault that they now refuse to leave. I have renewed the lease and have the right to move back at the start of the lease date. Shouldn't they take some responsibility in making this person leave?
Yes it is you invited them to live there.
Why did you not have her sign a sublet agreement vs. adding her to the original lease?
Kefir King I'm sorry to hear you went through that but happy that it ended up working out for you in the end. The main difference is that my ex-friend always knew she was there temporarily. Furthermore, she is suing me for not paying rent for the year when I never lived with her. Nor did I ever say I would live with her. I always used the words sublet. I always told her she would be responsible for the full rent. For godsakes she paid less than she would have paid for a just a tiny room. I wish there was some way I could force my landlord to take some responsibility in this matter. It is not my fault that they gave this person the impression that they could legally sign the lease. It is not my fault that they now refuse to leave. I have renewed the lease and have the right to move back at the start of the lease date. Shouldn't they take some responsibility in making this person leave?
One thing though is to do the math... How much per month are you saving by having your stabilized apartment vs a market rate one? Some stabilized apartments have rent reductions so low you effectively own the apartment. A rough estimate is about $100k per $300/mo rent saved. So if you are saving $1500 per month staying there, that is more less the equivalent to owning the $500,000 condo across the hall.
Sigh it seems like hindsight 20/20 is very popular in this forum. Ohio now I know that is what I should have done but at the time I was new to NY tenant landlord law (this is the first apt I was handling on my own) and when I asked my landlord/compliance officer for advice this is what I was told to do and really who would ever expect a friend to do something like this? I found out after the fact and after said compliance officer was fired, that this is not proper protocol with rent stabilized apartments.
Ahh I see, so you "Harlem Resident" are bitter because you witnessed people benefitting in a way that you were unable to back in the 90's. You already had an opinion about rent stabilization and people who live in rent stabilized apartments before you even read my story.
Welcome to the board--there is a high number of bitter losers in the world of rent-stabilization who love stories like this, who feel every R-S tenant is somehow standing between them and untold riches. Ignore them. You did the right thing and yes, you are why R-S tenants are allowed to sublet. Good luck. Your friend is a POS, BTW.
Welcome to the board--there is a high number of bitter losers in the world of rent-stabilization who love stories like this, who feel every R-S tenant is somehow standing between them and untold riches. Ignore them. You did the right thing and yes, you are why R-S tenants are allowed to sublet. Good luck. Your friend is a POS, BTW.
[sigh ...] People are not very smart.
Every day I am grateful that such are not a part of my world, directly.
In fact, everyone, with the exception of Gee1995, whoever that might be, I suddenly realized that the OP is probably an anti-stabilzation troll.
Too much textbook ignorance to be real. This is the sort of fodder that the opponents of regulation talk about incessantly, convinced that the typical stabilized tenant is an entitled whiner who, when caught up in machinations, blames everyone but him/her self. Expects the landlords to deal with everything like some paternal committee. As we see here.
There was at one time a facebook page launched by a transplant who was beyond bitter, actually close to psychopathic with rage, that he was paying market-rate rent while others did not. They also turn up at the hearings, in fact he did, stories just like the one the OP told in hand. "Look at the abuses !!!"
Welcome to the board--there is a high number of bitter losers in the world of rent-stabilization who love stories like this, who feel every R-S tenant is somehow standing between them and untold riches. Ignore them. You did the right thing and yes, you are why R-S tenants are allowed to sublet. Good luck. Your friend is a POS, BTW.
News flash. Most of the people opposed to stabilization, both here and in the world, are not renters but owners. An exception is the one I mention above. He is a random nut and rather rare.
In other words, few are "bitter losers in the world of rent stabilization." The nay-sayers, generally speaking, have actual reasons for their opposition. This is not always simply the fact that they are, themselves, landlords. Some of them are very smart. Therefore, you are best advised to try and understand their reasoning if you intend any sort of remotely positive contribution.
Hint: You should try, if you can, not to attack people personally. This is usually an indication that someone has no real argument, "resorting" and all. Your OP made the same (with me, fatal) mistake. That's one of the reasons I would not help her.
Thanks Gee. Still hoping someone with experience in this matter will come along with some good advice.
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