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Just joined this forum, did a search on this topic and did not find a clear answer:
I lived in a rent stabilized 1 bedroom apartment for 13 years in the same building I grew up in. (My mom is in the same building in a rent controlled 3 bedroom apartment.)
Nearly two years ago my building under went conversion to condo and I entered into a buy-out agreement with my landlord. I gave up my lease, vacated the apartment and gladly paid off student loans and bills, etc. with the hefty check I got. (Yes, I saved some in a CD, but not enough for a downpayment to buy another apartment).
Since the time I vacated my apartment, I put most of my belongings in storage and have stayed with my mother in the same building. I have not been able to find another decent place to live and nearly two years have now gone by. I recently learned that I could very well assert my succession rights to my mom's apartment since I am her daughter and have now lived with her for the required two years.
I know this may appear "slimy" since I did accept $$ to move -however, my buy-out agreement expressly defined the premises I was surrendering as Unit #3 located at 123building. There is no mention that I must actually vacate the building. So my question is:
Can the landlord ever successfully evict me? My mom is still alive and healthy and I hope she will be for many more years. I know the more time passes, the better it is for me, right?
But why are you planning on living with your mom for the rest of your life?
I'm planning to live with her at least for the rest of HER life. She's elderly (72 yrs)and in remission now from colon cancer. Her benefits simply do not cover the cost of daily living and my living with her allows for her/our finances to cover senior church activities and occassional vacations. She should be able to enjoy her current healthy status for as long as she can!!
I'm also NOT willing to put her in a nursing home when the time comes!! I believe my dad would still be around if I had just taken care of him myself!
So, I'm just trying to figure out whether I can legally "inherit" my childhood home ...eventually....
Yes, the karma may be bad and come around to bite me in the a** someday - but I know of folks who do even "slimier" things like collect welfare to stay home and do drugs all day or claim to be disabled to collect social security, etc.
At least I'm not doing anything ILLEGAL and I never INTENDED for this situation to happen - it just kind of played out that way.
I suspect that in the agreement the LL knew that your mom was there and by agreeing to accept the buy-out, you also agreed to forfeit any and all succession rights to your mom's unit. Then again that may not be the case but that is what should have happened.
And yes, it is a slimy thing to do. Although you can justify it by any and all excuses (hey at least I am not a pedophile right?)..but the bottom line is..if somebody did this to you, I am sure you would not shut up about it...but who cares about them right...it's all about you! Nice job...and yes..karma is a bi***
I don't agree with Guywithacause. If you were paid to vacate a specific apartment, why would that have anything to do with a different apartment. I'm no fan of rent control, but if the law allows you to continue the rent controlled occupancy of your mother's apartment there is nothing wrong with doing so. The landlord did not pay for your mother's apartment, just yours.
Yes, you need to look at the legal description of the terms for which you accepted the buy-out. It was for a specific unit, as a condo represents the right to occupy a specific unit, not shares in a building as it is with a co-op. If you have met the criteria for the rent control laws, then you should be free to continue your tenancy. You can check with a real estate attorney, just to be on the safe side, though, and they can also be a resource should you have any issues with the landlord in future. Knowing what you are legally entitled to in the situation is worth the investment in their time.
Also, I do not think you need fear any karmic reprisals, since you did not enter this situation with any sort of malice to "cheat" anyone. You were presented an opportunity and took it, fulfilling your contract with the landlord. As long as you living with your mother did not violate her lease, there's no issue at all with moving into her apartment. Furthermore, you are taking care of an ill parent, whom I hope lives for many years to come, and that commitment and support should be honored, not run down and compared with some sort of cheating the sytem. If you choose to continue your tenancy, so be it. Comparing this situation to that of a criminal of unspeakable proportions, i.e., the "not a pedophile" comment, is completely unwarranted, since this is a contractual issue at best.
Do you have a good relationship with the landlord? Is it an individual or management company with whom you have the rental? Another resource might be some of the legal aid centers to answer your questions easily, without going to a real estate lawyer, but an experienced tenant-landlord attorney can come in handy. And, in the aftermath of a loss, one may not be in the right frame of mind to assert their rights, having a knowledge as to what is allowed under the law and how to protect your rights through preparation beforehand with a competent professional can ease the burden at that difficult time, which I sincerely hope is many years off in the future for you.
Forget about Karma, you are looking out for yourself and your mother. The landlord is looking out for his money. They paid you to move out of your unit. It's not your fault that you lived in the same building as your parents. The landlord paid for your unit, not your mother's. If he wants you and your mother out of your current unit then I guess he has to pay you again. Not slimey at all!
Yes..it is all about looking out for you and only you. Nothing bad about that at all right? Who cares about silly things like "doing the right thing"..that's all nonsense...the law is on your side..therefore morals, values, and beliefs mean nothing, right?
I do not believe for a second that you had are innocently falling into this money for a second time. In 2 years you could not find a place? Hogwash! You knew the LL was buying people out, so you quickly took the money and moved in with your mom, and "coincidentally" you realized that since you had been living with your mom for the required 2 years, you now have succession rights. That's a wonderful coincidence, especially b/c you already knew the LL was buying out apts 2 years ago when you left!
I am not buying this at all..it is purely greed, you knew what you were doing, and now you come on this board for some sort of absolution. Forget it. Let them buy out your mother whose apt it rightfully belongs to. And should she choose to share her gains with you...good for you and her. But to assert your succession rights to cheat a LL is wrong, whether the law is on your side or not. Shame on you. And yes, it will come back to you shortly...just wait!
Guy, are you the landlord? I do buy the "story" since if her mother has been ill, that's the main focus of spending her time, not searching for another place to live. And, nothing was said about a relocation offer for the mother's apartment, that's supposition that it will be in the offering. The landlord converted the other unit to condo, and the money was made on that transaction, the transaction for which the relocation allowance was paid. There is nothing unethical or immoral about it, and the op is doing the right thing because she is taking care of an ailing parent, not merely using the situation to an advantage. It's what comes with the territory when one owns investment properties that are subject to rent controls, and if the landlord chooses to make an offer to end the rent control in the mother's apartment, that's a separate transaction. The original one was completed when the unit was vacated, and attaching a sense of morals and ethics to a contractual situation such as this is a bit much. The op fulfilled the contract, legally, ethically, and morally, since the situation in which she finds herself now was not done with some nefarious purpose in mind. If the landlord makes another offer to end rent control on the mother's apartment, so be it, since it is on another unit, and a fee that would have had to have been paid anyway to buy out that specific unit.
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