Posted by Gavin O'Mahony on October 17, 1997 at 00:30:45:
In Reply to: Re: EVICTION NOTICE posted by TenantNet on October 16, 1997 at 10:39:18:
: : Last week myself and my landlord signed a new lease. Today I recieved
: : an eviction notice in the mail.
: I'm assuming you're in NYC. You can't be evicted without going to
: court -- read the material in the court section on the web site.
: Such notices usually need to be served in person.
: : Confused? So am I.My Landlord sent me
: : two pre-signed copies of my new lease. I signed them both and sent one
: : back to him a check for the first month's rent. The eviction notice which
: : I just recieved talks about terminating our month by month aggreemt and
: : asks that I remove myself from my home by Nov.7. It says nothing about the
: : new lease.
: : When I called my landlord he claims not to have recieved my
: : check and signed copy of the lease.
: Always send these things certified mail.
: : He declined to comment on his reasons
: : for the eviction notice and hung up the phone on me.
: : Between these two events (lease and eviction) something else occoured. I
: : had a conversation concerning repairs to the appartment. There are holes
: : floors, Plaster is coming away from the walls and ceiling, the stove doesnt
: : work, the windows frames are broken, the wiring is faulty. My landlord has
: : been promising to fix these things for two years but never has. I have
: : a copy of and answerphone tape of him promising to fix these things as a
: : precondition for my signing a new lease. Last week we spoke of these
: : promises, he started skirking again and we had a heated discussion. Next
: : thing I know I have this eviction notice.
: Look at the "retaliatory eviction" section of the Real Property Law and
: on the CTRC Fact Sheets.
: : My Landlord is refusing to recognise my lease. However I have a copy of this
: : lease signed by him and by me. That counts for something doesn't it?
: Yes, but depends where you are and if you are protected. Rent Stab tenants
: can be evicted for nonpayment or certain "for good cause". If not RS then]
: the lease should spell out the eviction procedure.
: : Does this eviction notice mean anything at all?
: I wouldn't ignore it.
: : If you can answer my questions, please do. I will be very grateful. Thank
: : you.
Follow up:
First of all thank you for responding so quickly. Your comments were helpfull
and your interest is appreciated. Let me answer your questions and fill you
in. I am not rent stabilized. I rent a two bdrm. apartment in a four
apartment building in Brooklyn. I have been here a year, my girlfriend two
years. For the entire time we have been here our landlord has avoided
carrying out repairs to the apartment. We have had trouble with the
heat and plumbing. The landlord is difficult to reach. He is impossible to
talk to and he consistantly denies responsibility. He enters the apartment
without permission and while I don't have a problem dealing with him
personally he is extremly abusive to my girlfriend when on occasion he
catches her here alone.
Our last lease expired Sept. 1st. I tried to speak to the landlord about
a new lease from more than a month prior to the old lease's expiration.
He did not answer calls. The lease expired. We paid September's rent at
the usual rate and he cashed the cheque. We also sent him a list of repairs
that are needed and long overdue. Also we reminded him of the lease situation.
Near the end of September he sent us a rudimentary note iforming us of an
11% rent increase as a condition for a new lease. I did not want to pay this
especially considering his position on reparing. On inquiry I found out that my
upstairs neighbour was at the end of his lease and was facing a 14% increase
and also had repair issues - damaged brickwork, cracked and flaking
plaster and a host of other complaints including a winter without heat.
We both decided to syncronize our dealings with the landlord. We told him
we would not pay more than 5% if anything and would not sign unless he
aggreed to the repairs. I think he (the landlord) sensed cooperation. He
came out to Brooklyn inspected the apartments. After much discussion
aggreed to just about all of the repairs. We also finally aggreed on a 6%
rent increase. He left me a message on my answerphone listing the repairs
he would make as a condition of the lease. I kept the tape. He then sent
us two copies of a new lease signed by him. We were presumably to both
sign it and sent it back to him. We did. We signed one copy and sent it to
him with the first month's rent cheque. We still have one origional copy of
the new lease with his signiature.
I don't know if this whole business angered him or what. He was around at
the apartment and he picked a fight with my girlfriend. He had already been in
the apartment when she came home and had messed the place up considerably.
He cornered her and harassed her for almost an hour leaving her very upset.
When I came home he tried to avoid even speaking to me. When I did speak to
him I told him to leave my girlfriend alone. I found out that he didn't
have any real issue at all. I told him that in future he was to talk to me
and not her about any problem he might have.
One week later an eviction notice arrived in the mail. In it he stated that
he wanted to terminate our "month by month" rent aggreement. It didn't mention
the new lease. He signed and sent the new lease before he wrote this eviction
notice. I called him about the notice and reminded of about the lease.He
claimed not to have recieved either it or the rent check. He then hung up.
Since then we have recieved two more notices, one by certified mail and
the other taped to the door. He asks us leave by the 7th of November in the
first two and the 10th in the third which he marked "second notice".
I don't really know what this guy is up to. He seems to be not entirely sane.
Does our lease hold even though he hasn't cashed the check?
We read the lease and we have't broken any of the conditions with possible
exception of non payment of rent (he claims not to have recieved it). I did
ask him on the phone if he would like me to stop the check and sent another
one. Thats when he hung up.
Should I send another check to him by certified mail?
Can he evict us?
If so how long have we got to find a new place?
I hope the account I have just given wasnt overlong. I do appreciate the
value of your time. Any further advise that you could offer me would help
me a great deal. Once again thank you.
Follow Ups:
Note: Posting is disabled in all archives
Post a Followup