does lease breaking=immediate eviction?

[brooklyngal]

My roommate and I signed a lease for January 1 in the very nice 3br 1500/mo rent-stabilized apartment that I'm currently living in. She has not moved in yet. She wants to break the lease becaues to make a long story short, we had disagreements over money related to A RENT ADJUSTMENT CLAUSE in the lease requiring an extra month rent that we need to get to the mgmt co.

We sat down and talked to this man (the landlord), did the rent application etc and were never told about it.

My roommate thinks I should call the landlord and tell him SHE wants to break the lease. I feel like this would put me at risk for homelessness, lawsuit, etc. All of my stuff is PACKED right now.

I told her I could not rescind her legal agreement and she has to make the CALL herself. She says she's too busy and I should call them for her..... and risk homelessness... remember i live here. Also, obviously I cannot find a new roommate/new co-lease signer UNTIL she makes it clear to the mgmt co SHE DOES NOT WANT TO SIGN THE LEASE.

QUESTIONS:

IS THAT RENT ADUJSTMENT CLAUSE LEGAL? I could have sworn that it's illegal to ask for more than 2 months rent up front if the apartment was rent-stabilized. Because we haven't paid that money up front, his secretary says he won't sign the lease til we do.

CAN THE LANDLORD THROW MY STUFF OUT IN THE STREET? I have been here for more than 60 days. But, the super says he's done it before and as far as I know it's only a misdemeanor or something. I'm packed now and prepared. But, technically does he have to go through a process, even though i don't have a lease?

[mjr203]

I'm sorry, what does the rent adjustment clause say exactly?

"The amount of a security deposit for a rent regulated apartment is usually limited by law to one month's rent." from DHCR fact sheet.

An illegal clause in a lease is not defensible in court. But what does it exactly mean?

btw -- If you show up and your stuff is in the street -- go straight to the police and your super will be going directly to jail.

"To evict a tenant, a landlord must sue in court and win the case. Only a sheriff, marshal or constable can carry out a court ordered warrant to evict a tenant. (RPAPL ß749) A landlord may not take the law into his/her own hands and evict a tenant by use of force or unlawful means. For example, a landlord cannot use threats of violence, remove a tenant's possessions, lock the tenant out of the apartment, or willfully discontinue essential services such as water or heat. (Real Property Law ß235) When a tenant is evicted, the landlord may not retain the tenant's personal belongings or furniture."

<small>[ January 07, 2003, 05:16 PM: Message edited by: pointerout ]</small>

[mjr203]

btw this is really terrible of her to do this after she has signed the lease.

she has legally committed to this apartment. I wonder if it would be possible for you to take her to court to recover cost of finding a new roommate...

on the plus side you'll find it easy to find a roommate for a nice 1500 / 3br rent stabilized apartment. Do you know how rare something like that must be? Something you might want to let your roommate know too.

<small>[ January 07, 2003, 05:11 PM: Message edited by: pointerout ]</small>