Told to move... how long do I REALLY have?

[perfection]

I live in a 2 family house. The landlord has just sold it and has told me to start looking for a new home and something about being out at the end of June. I have lived here for over 20 years. What are my rights? How long do I really have? I was never given legal papers of any kind, just a phone call from my landlord telling me they sold it and that I should begin looking, and then something about being out by June 31st.

What are my tenant rights here? How long do I REALLY have?

Thanks in advance for any help.

<small>[ April 14, 2003, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: perfection ]</small>

[mjr203]

***are you a month-to-month tenant or do you have a lease?***

if you are m-t-m he can get you to move unfortunately.

but he has to give written notice at least 30 days ahead of your next rent payment to take effect at the end of that next paid month. if he doesn't give it in writing (mailed certified or served) you don't have to move by a certain time. But the bottom line, in a 2 family non-reg house, you will have to eventually move. You could refuse and drag it out into an eviction, but then you get into legal hassles which is just not worth it. Perhaps at some point you can try to talk to the new owner/your LL to see if you can arrange to stay.

[TenantNet]

Actually the option to not agree to move right away would force the LL to take court action and sometimes it can very much be worth it. You could get a buy-out or an agreement for additional time. Happens all the time. These are better handled with a lawyer though. We know tenants who get 6 months to a year depending on the situation. Or they can get a buy-out (more common with rent regulation) that can sometimes be substantial. That depends on the market. But if unregulated, yes you will probably have to eventually move. And yes, also consider talking to the new LL.

[TenantNet]

As we suggested, best handled by an attorney, but it is quite common. While there are always risks, it's certainly not as horrible as me again states (which by the way, if you want to scare tenants into not exercising any rights, we suggest you move over to landlord.net). The 'holdover rent' is a misnomer, properly labeled 'use and occupancy' and usually not more than the existing rent. Very rare that it would be otherwise. Legal fees? Only if the lease states that. (poster didn't indicate if he/she has a lease). And even then, the idea is to negotiate and this does happen quite frequently. Buyouts are common with rent regulated units as tenant has a firmer legal standing, but not unknown in unregulated units and depends on many factors. There, getting a few months extra in order to look for new digs might be a better option to seek. Again, as we said, these things really need experienced hands. If the tenant is interested, he/she should contact an experienced tenant attorney, assess the situation and probably see if there's room for negotiation prior to any court action. This, of course, is independent of any rights the tenant might have to try to prevent the ultimate eviction if that's possible.

[queenswoman]

I was in a similar situation where I rented an apartment in a 3 family house with no lease (actually a month after I moved in my landlady told me her son was getting a divorce and needed the apartment). Finally many months later the son agreed to pay the brokers fee in order to get me to move out because there was no way I was going to pay for a real estate fee no matter how long it took me to find an apartment.

So if you can get the ll to pay the brokers fee or your moving expenses. If not the ll will have to go through the more costly and more time consuming process of going through a holdover procedure in housing court. Also if you're in an illegal basement or the house is not registered as a multiple dwelling the case will most likely be dismissed in court.