New lease - LL asking for a new deposit!?

[hal9000]

We've lived in our rent-stabilized washington heights apartment for 16 years. We just signed a new 2-year lease and the LL is asking for an additional $500 or so in additional security deposit. Does this sound right? I don't see why we need to pay a deposit when we've been living in the apartment already for 16 years, and I don't remember this happening in the past...

[TenantNet]

Did the LL collect a deposit at any time since you moved in? When? How much (as a percentage of one month's rent).

Did the LL demand or collect any additional deposit during any subsequent lease renewal? Did he bring it up to the new level of rent?

This new amount - $500 - if you paid that, would the deposit on record then equal one month's rent, more, or less?

What does the lease say about security deposits - your original lease, not the renewals.

Please answer with specifics and the exact language of the lease. If a standard real estate lease, there should be one paragraph covering the deposit. Is it a standard Blumberg lease (it would say at the bottom of the pre-printed form)?

[hal9000]

Did the LL collect a deposit at any time since you moved in? When? How much (as a percentage of one month's rent).

I move in with my wife only 3 years ago, but she's been in the apartment since 1994. I found the original lease.

It looks like starting in 1998 he was asking for additional security deposit each time we renewed. In 1998 he was asking for exactly the amount of one-months-rent. For the 96 renewal, the sections under "additional deposit required" were both zero.

This new amount - $500 - if you paid that, would the deposit on record then equal one month's rent, more, or less?

I am looking at the most recent (2 yr) renewal that we signed and under section 3 "security deposit" it says "Current Deposit: $731.24" and then:

"Additional deposit required - 1 year lease: $413.34"
"Additional deposit required - 2 year lease: $446.67"

Now it just so happens that $731.24 + those amounts above is equal to what our new monthly rent amounts were for 1 and 2 year leases ($1144.58 or $1177.91, respectively and we signed a two year so our current rent is $1177.91).

What does the lease say about security deposits - your original lease, not the renewals. Please answer with specifics and the exact language of the lease. If a standard real estate lease, there should be one paragraph covering the deposit. Is it a standard Blumberg lease (it would say at the bottom of the pre-printed form)?

The original lease consists of two documents, one which is a roughly four-pages-stuck-together paper that says "STANDARD FORM OF APARTMENT LEASE / The real estate board of new york, inc. Copyright 1988 all rights reserved"

Under section 5 of that document "SECURITY DEPOSIT" it reads:

"You are required to give Owner the sum of $725.00 when You sign this Lease as a security deposit, which is called in law a trust. Owner will deposit this security in (blank) bank at (blank). If the Building contains six of more apartments, the bank account will earn interest. If You carry out all of your agreements in this Lease, at the end of each calendar year, Owner or the bank will pay to Owner 1% interest on the deposit for administrative costs and to You all other interest earned on the security deposit.
If You carry out all of your agreements in this Lease and if You move out of the Apartment and return it to Owner in the same condition it was in when You first occupied it, except for ordinary wear and tear or damage caused by fire or other casualty, Owner will return to You the full amount of your security deposit and interest to which You are entitled within 60 days after this Lease ends. However, if You fo not carry out all your agreements in this Lease, Owner may keep all or part of your security deposit and any interest which has not yet been paid to You necessary to pay Owner for any losses incurred, including missing payments.
If Owner sells or leases the building, Owner will turn over your security, with interest, either to You or to the person buying of leasing (lessee) the building within 5 days after the sale or lease. Owner will then notify You, by registered or certified mail, of the name and address of the person or company to whom the deposit has been turned over. In such case, Owner will have no further responsibility to You for the security deposit. The new owner or lessee will become responsible to You for the security deposit."

then there is a second document which is called "Rent stabilization lease rider for apartment house tenants residing in new york city" published by "The real estate board of new york, real estate board building, 12 east 41st street, ny ny 10017"

In this document, under summary, section 2 is:

"Security deposits: Must be kept in an interest-bearing bank account. Tenant has the option of applying interest to rent, leaving interest in bank or receiving interest annually"

Then farther down under "provisions" there is:

"2. SECURITY DEPOSITS: The general rule is that an owner may collect a security deposit no greater than one months rent. However, if the present tenant moved into the apartment prior to the date the apartment first became rent stabilized, and the owner collected more than one month's rent, the owner may continue to retain a security deposit of up to two months rent for that tenant only. When the rent is increasedm the owner may charge an additional amount to bring the security deposit up to the full amount of the increased rent to which the owner is entitled.
Security deposits must be deposited in an interest-bearing trust account in a banking organization in New York State. Owners may annually deduct a 1% service fee. At the tenant's option, the balance of the interest paid by the banking organization must be applied for the rental of the apartment, or held in trust until repaid, or annually paid to the tenant. The owner must also otherwise comply with the provisions of Article 7 of the General Obligations Law (Obligations Relating To Property Received as Security), including notifications to the tenants of the name and address of the banking organization holding the security deposit, and the amount of such deposit."

The lease is in my wife's name and she is the one who writes the checks to the landlord. She remembers paying an extra deposit amount in our first month of our last renewal. I am looking at the 2008 lease and it says:

"3. Security Deposit: Current Deposit: $504.27
Additional Deposit Required - 1 year lease: $578.07
Additional Deposit Required - 2 year lease: $606.97"

many thing stand out to me here. Why was our current deposit amount $504.27 for the 2008 renewal, and $731.24 for our 2010 renewal if we paid him an additional $606.97 in 2008? I have requested her bank statements from 2008 to see exactly how much the check she wrote was for, but it seems to be that our new-lease-renewal security deposit increases should be equal to the rent amount increases - on the order of $30-60, not hundreds and hundreds. Let me know if there's anything more that you need. I have copies of all our previous lease renewals...

[hal9000]

Also I can't believe the name of the bank was blank on the original lease! Should I call and ask what the account number is and with which bank?

[TenantNet]

I'll look at what you wrote, but two things...

The lease rider is likely the standard informational rider provided by DHCR and is not part of your lease. I wasn't looking for that. I was looking for what the actual lease said.

On the numbers you provided, if those are the actual numbers, consider fudging them a bit, or rounding them off. This is a public forum and landlords can see what you're writing. Just make certain the fudged numbers add up. I don't need to know the actual amounts ... just how they relate to each other.

[hal9000]

looking forward to your response. I've also dug up all the previous renewals and made a little spreadsheet of the deposit sections. Once I get the bank statements I will be able to confirm what exactly was paid for the 2006, 2008, and 2010 renewals. I suspect LL is double-dipping on security deposit increases. Of course it could just be that the wife has never paid them...

[TenantNet]

In the meantime see http://tenant.net/Rights/CTRC/ctrcf006.html