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landlord demanding fees after I have been discontinued from

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landlord demanding fees after I have been discontinued from

Postby angry-tenant » Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:00 pm

Hi, I was discontinued from a Housing Court holdover case (I was primary leaseholder) and the subtenant who overstayed got stipulations to stay on until he could find a new apartment. I don't know what happened between him and the landlord as I had already moved on to different apartment and so on. Now I got a notice from the landlord saying I owe them money for late rent, legal fees, etc., obviously owed by the subtenant who finally left the apartment (don't know what happened to him yet, whether he was given the marshall's boot or what). This is not a Housing Court case, just a demand letter from the landlord. I have contacted a lawyer as well, but I wonder what the take is by tenants here on this—should I be anxious and worried over paying bills that are not mine, simply because my name was on the lease on the apartment that this subtenant occupied waaay beyond the end of my lease? Thanks so much for your help. I am still waiting for word from the lawyer. I appreciated all the help I got from tenant forum previously—tenant.net was hugely helpful in dealing with the discontinuance issue. Thanks.
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Re: landlord demanding fees after I have been discontinued f

Postby TenantNet » Tue Apr 28, 2015 5:07 am

Please answer the questions below and be specific as possible.

You say we helped earlier, but to be honest, I can't remember what happened yesterday on the forum, and I really don't want to go back and re-read everything.

I'm guessing here that the LL brought either a non-primary holdover or an illegal sublet case. You call the person the "subtenant" which can mean different things dependng on the situation. You don't say if you're rent regulated, but obviously the current lease is still in effect.

When you say "I was discontinued from... holdover case," what does that mean? Was there a stipulation of discontinuence? Was the stip ordered by a judge? Or was there a decision/order by a judge? What did the language of either actually say?

You say the "subtenant" got stipulations, but what does that mean? Was this person named in the holdover? Did this person appear?

You say you moved, but was your tenancy terminated? Or did the LL agree to end the lease?

And what does the new demand actually say? Based on what? I'd like to see the exact language in the letter (you can send it by PM if you prefer, of uplad a scan via a PM).

But just in general, legal fees are not soemthing the LL can get without a court order.
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Re: landlord demanding fees after I have been discontinued f

Postby angry-tenant » Wed Apr 29, 2015 1:15 am

Hi, thanks for reply.

The LL brought a holdover petition on me, the primary leaseholder, and the subtenant. The lease was already up, I had already left the apartment, but the subtenant overstayed. I went to court and was discontinued without prejudice from the holdover petition on a stipulation signed by the LL's lawyers. What I gather from court papers is that the subtenant went to trial and signed a stipulation with the LL lawyers in October that he could stay on as long as he kept paying and would be allowed to look for an apartment and stay on until around 8 months after my lease was up (lease was over in June, he was allowed to stay until Feb). He kept overstaying until April. I will pm you a scan of the demand. It includes a demand for legal fees etc but I checked the court papers today and there is 0 judgment and 0 legal fees on the subtenant; and I am still discontinued from the case (my name is not on the case anymore, as far as I can tell). There seems to be no judgment for legal fees. I checked NYC FDCPA rules (fair debt collection practices) because LL says they will send the debt to debt collection in 10 days. I don't see how they can do that if I dispute their charges. I will send a scan soon. Thanks.
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Re: landlord demanding fees after I have been discontinued f

Postby TenantNet » Wed Apr 29, 2015 2:56 am

Was the subtenant a sublet or a roommate? I had asked that before. How did this person stay on after you left?

Were you represented in court?

Was the subtenant named as a respondent in the holdover?

Was there an agreement on paper allowing the subtenant to stay on?

FDCPA is a federal issue, doens't have much bearing for a housing court case. But yes, it does concern debt collection.

I'll look at the scan.
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