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20 years ago I knew someone who rented an illegal basement apartment and when they got caught (don't know how, sorry) the tenant was on the street and the homeowners paid a $30k fine to the city.
It's called an ejectment case in the courts
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
The tenant I had living there for 20+ years was amazing, never had an issue and I was able to provide her with a place to live near her family at a price she could afford and still make a living for herself. She has now moved out of state, so this is why I'm just doing some due diligence online for the next tenant; because they might not be genuinely nice as my old tenant.
Yes, I've read that also online that a tenant could stop paying rent knowing that it's not a legal apartment. At that point I guess my choices would be to maybe offer them a payment to leave peacefully. If that doesn't work then get the city involved, that could possibly cost me relocation fees for the tenant and fines by the city. I guess that's the risk I have to see if it's worth taking.
The tenant I had living there for 20+ years was amazing, never had an issue and I was able to provide her with a place to live near her family at a price she could afford and still make a living for herself. She has now moved out of state, so this is why I'm just doing some due diligence online for the next tenant; because they might not be genuinely nice as my old tenant.
Yes, I've read that also online that a tenant could stop paying rent knowing that it's not a legal apartment. At that point I guess my choices would be to maybe offer them a payment to leave peacefully. If that doesn't work then get the city involved, that could possibly cost me relocation fees for the tenant and fines by the city. I guess that's the risk I have to see if it's worth taking.
Google ejectment case
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
The tenant I had living there for 20+ years was amazing, never had an issue and I was able to provide her with a place to live near her family at a price she could afford and still make a living for herself. She has now moved out of state, so this is why I'm just doing some due diligence online for the next tenant; because they might not be genuinely nice as my old tenant.
Yes, I've read that also online that a tenant could stop paying rent knowing that it's not a legal apartment. At that point I guess my choices would be to maybe offer them a payment to leave peacefully. If that doesn't work then get the city involved, that could possibly cost me relocation fees for the tenant and fines by the city. I guess that's the risk I have to see if it's worth taking.
Today is a different environment than it was 20 years ago. If you get the "wrong" tenant as you said you could end up with someone refusing to leave, then force you to pay them to get out. But they could also report you to the City causing the fines, and even requiring you to return any money they did happen to pay you.
Have you even looked into seeing if you can make it legal, or what it would take?
Today is a different environment than it was 20 years ago. If you get the "wrong" tenant as you said you could end up with someone refusing to leave, then force you to pay them to get out. But they could also report you to the City causing the fines, and even requiring you to return any money they did happen to pay you.
Have you even looked into seeing if you can make it legal, or what it would take?
Yes, if this would to happen; I would first try to offer them payment to move out peacefully. If that doesn't work then I read I could submit a "holder proceeding" with the court to try to evict them. I then could face having to pay relocation fees for the tenant or any fines the city imposes, however, from what I read so far online any rent payments that have been sent would not be returned back to the tenant.
Yes, this is the option I initially explored and came across this pilot program that NYC was offering specifically to help homeowners legalize basement/cellar apartments but it seems like the pilot program was not much of a success. With 100 homeowners who received a cost estimate only 5 remained in the program due to costs of a single conversion climbing up to $1M...it's just not worth it.
If there was something in place that was more affordable, I'm sure more homeowners would be willing to take this route, myself included, to meet the city standards.
Good luck getting insurance (homeowner's or renter's) to cover an illegal apartment. They'll be happy to take your money for premiums but deny on any claim.
I know what I'm asking is not legal, but it also doesn't stop the 30,000+ not legal apartments that currently provide a home for families in Queens, NYC that would otherwise not be able to afford to live there.
I'm just trying to see, as a landlord, are there certain steps I can take to reduce any potential risks I could face for renting out the apartment? Should I have a lease agreement in place with the tenant? Is there certain verbiage I could include in the lease or another written document I should have in place? Etc.?
The building was built prior to 1938, so there is no certificate of occupancy issued; not sure if that helps me at all.
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