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Is this the 1st time that the landlord is trying to get payment? If they haven't paid in 2010 the landlord should have been more pro-active. I feel the couple might be off the hook for the back rent since it looks like the landlord accepted the fact that they were not paying. 6 years is a lot of time to be oblivious that a tenant was not paying their rent.
This story makes no sense. Unless, the landlord has a horrible accountant or accounting software...
The tenant's lawyer is talking about the safety thing because in Manhattan there has to be a connection between the violation (no C of O) and the tenants' safety. Who knows what a judge will do with this, but I believe there is a pretty good chance that they are NOT going to liable for the back rent. Especially given all the violations at the building, seems like the safety angle will be easy to prove. No idea why the landlord ignored it for six years, but I wonder if the fact that the tenant claims there were other residential tenants in the building, which would subject them to the loft law, had something to do with it. Perhaps the landlord was just trying to wait everyone out so they could do whatever they wanted. Dunno.
The landlord would have been in Court with them multiple times fighting against the building being placed under the loft law.
The landlord is doing this now because they must be desperate for money, or desperate to get the tenants out so they can turn the loft into a commercial space.
If the rest of the building is being used as commercial space, it will be almost impossible for the landlord to legalize and get a proper C of O, so he's taking one last shot at getting rent.
The odds are that the landlord loses this case, and the tenants either live there rent free for as long as they want, or the landlord buys them out.
The landlord deserves it for breaking the law, luckily for him he's getting rent on the rest of the building.
I really hate people like this. My family had a situation like this (but not with the loft law) where a tenant refused to pay and refused to leave. It took over a year to get them out. These people are purposefully abusing the law. By what right do these people think that they can use someone else's property without paying the agreed upon price? And what do they think their children are learning from this? Truly disgusting.
By what right does a landlord think he can rent residential property without having a proper certificate of occupancy, which is a basic safety requirement? The landlord knew the laws and (apparently) chose to ignore them. Sometimes, when you do that, it comes back to bite you.
landlord mistake #1 renting to smart, conniving people that know how to trick the system and pay for a good lawyer
landlord mistake #2 not having a C/O, the landlord has a harder time evicting for not paying rent if he didnt have a C/O. Rental must have a C/O to collect rent in the first place. The landlord must have received the C/O recently and now has the justification to sue. Probably won't get all that back rent however, the judge will most likely give something.
I really hate people like this. My family had a situation like this (but not with the loft law) where a tenant refused to pay and refused to leave. It took over a year to get them out. These people are purposefully abusing the law. By what right do these people think that they can use someone else's property without paying the agreed upon price? And what do they think their children are learning from this? Truly disgusting.
It's interesting that you "conveniently" omitted why the tenant refused to pay and refused to leave...
Certificate of Occupancy, also C of O, also CO. All buildings in NYC have one, it specifies the legal use and/or type of permitted occupancy.
ETA: BTW, the building has a CO, but it has one that specifies it is business only, not residential. There are other factors at play here though with the loft law and some special zoning in the area. The overall upshot here though is that typically the building owner should be in the process of getting a new CO, and should have been doing it years ago. Typically, a residential tenant would NOT be responsible for paying rent during this period, but there are other factors at play here and who knows what a judge will ultimately decide. But in a perfect world, the building owner would have obtained a proper CO many years ago and there would be no issue. Other than he could easily kick them out for not paying rent, which is now complicated.
Last edited by daaver; 01-11-2017 at 01:40 PM..
Reason: BTW
Basically the tenants in question are friends or whatever of an attorney famous for using twists and turns in the New York Loft Law to benefit residents, and by extension screw owners.
The building in question is a commercial space located near the Highline and thus now worth many more millions than it was when this family moved in. They took up residence before the Loft Law was modified and have been engaged in legal back and forth with the LL since (courtesy of their "friend" attorney).
Family acknowledges they have not been putting money into escrow nor do they have the funds to pay back rent if so ordered, so don't exactly have a plan "B" if LL does take them to court and wins. Family bases their "squatting" on the fact the unit the and still now was raw space that they themselves have added various amenities to make livable.
There isn't a C of O for this building because owner has not completed required work to bring it up to code.
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