Posted by Anna on September 26, 1999 at 23:25:12:
In Reply to: Sub-leased room...w/leaky ceiling...!! HELP!!! posted by Norma Jean on September 26, 1999 at 22:08:10:
: Help..!! My son is 23 yrs old...he's in school and works part time...
: He's renting a bedroom from someone that is also renting...however she rents all
: the rooms out in order to make extra money..I consider this to be 'sub-leasing' but
: there is not contract....
: He's been renting weekly (cash only) every week for almost 3 years now...
: Recently the hurricaine hit New York...Hurricaine Floyd...Well..during the storm
: the ceiling leaked all over his bed...througout the week....now there is a big
: caved in like circle over his bed....he's afraid the ceiling will calapse over
: him while sleeping...so now he's loosing sleep......
: He complained to the woman he's renting from and she told him to move...
: She gave him three days to leave the room....
: This woman is renting a few rooms to people....I don't think her landlord knows
: what's going on....
: What rights does my son have in order to protect himself??
: Can anyone give any advise or any recomendations for us to battle this woman?
: Please reply to CHERUB419@AOL.COM
: THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE US....
: NORMA JEAN*****
**************
In NY state, tenants (renters with ot without a written lease) can rent out rooms to boarders, unless their lease specifically restricts the number of occupants in the dwelling. These boarders are not "subletting", to "sublet" means the leaseholder does not live there. Boarders are 'occupants' or 'licensees' and 'roommates'.
The woman is your son's landlord and is threatening an illegal action: a 'self-help' eviction. She is required to follow the same laws as her landlord is. Your son, with no written lease, is her month-to-month tenant. She must give him a notice to terminate his occupancy. Probably a 30-day notice, but you did not give enough details. The question has been answered many times here: use the search feature. If he does not move out after, usually, 30 days, she must go to court (Housing Court in NYC) and start eviction proceedings. Only a court can order a tenant to leave.
Read about the whole thing on http://tenant.net
Start with Illegal Eviction & Police Procedure on the bottom of the HomePage, then go to the NYC Housing Court section (has more than just NYC in it). There are also many many messages on this board about these subjects, which should be easier to find now that you know what words to search for.
About the roof leak and collapsing ceiling: in NYC, any type of tenant can call HPD Central Complaints 960-4800 (they have a section on the NYC site http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/ ), outside of NYC, it might be the Buildings Dept. Your son should also go to his Off-Campus Housing Office at school: they should have all this info. If not: give them the TenantNet URL!
ps: doesn't he have internet access at school? no? the holidays are less than 100 shopping days away...
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