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Re: showing our apartment

Posted by Anna on August 31, 1999 at 12:15:33:

In Reply to: showing our apartment posted by JD on August 30, 1999 at 12:09:30:

: Here's the situation: Our LL/owner originally told us that we had to move out
: b/c she was selling each apt. individually. Then she offered to let us keep the
: lease at the same price on the condition that she (well, realtors) be allowed
: to show the apartment. During the initial conversation, she said that the realtors
: would have to make appointments at our convenience (there are 3 people in the
: apartment). At this point, however, the realtors are only required to give us
: a 24 hour notice--in person on the phone (they can't just leave a message),
: and then they can show up. When I asked the LL how this was supposed to be "at
: our convenience", I was told that the 24 hours gives us time to prepare for the
: realtor to come over. Most of the realtors have the attitude that they should
: be able to come over whenever they need to; I even had one woman tell me, "Look,
: I have the key to your home--what's the problem? You're at work anyway..." So
: here's my problem: It is in the new lease that realtors will be showing our apt.
: by appointment only, with 24 hours notice. Is it unreasonable to ask my LL for
: some sort of insurance for the contents of our apt.--given that no less than 5
: realty firms in Brooklyn have keys to our place and a disrespectful attitude toward
: the 24 hour appointment policy? How do we know people aren't coming over in the
: middle of the day without an appointment? Can this be considered an invasion of
: privacy? Are there any laws I should be aware of?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Answer assumes you are not stabilized/controlled:

If your lease says 24-hour by appointment, then that's what you can insist on. But balance the value of the LL's good-tenants reference letters to future LL's with your rights...

Often the 'show' clause restricts access to last 3 or 6 months of lease...

Some suggestions from other tenants' experiences:

If your written lease expires more than 3 months from now: let every one of those realtors know this: occupied apts are much harder to sell & many would-be buyers won't want to even see it. Buy one of those 6 or 12 months calendars, hang in obvious place, & boldly mark lease-end-date.

Change one of your locks: read about it on TenantNet Home: you will have to give the LL a new key within 30 days, she will then give them to the realtors, but it will buy you some time to negotiate a more reasonable 'show apt' schedule.

Leave the apt cluttered, not dirty: tell the realtors "we would have cleaned up if we had 24-hours notice"...

PS: "selling apts individually" usually means the building is ALREADY a co-op or condo, although other forms of multi-person ownership exist. Exactly what is the status of your building? Worth a visit to the Hall of Records...

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