Complicated Alleged Illegal Sublet Case

[KV621]

Hello Everyone,

First things first. Me and my wife live in a rent stabilized apartment thats been in our family for almost 40 years. The apartments has been passed down from my parents to my brother. The apartment is currently under my brothers name. This has been both my and my brothers primary home of record and where we have lived for the greater part of 37 years. I moved in my wife over two years ago. The renewal lease was mailed to my brother this past November said to go into effect for a early month of this year and expire in two years . After signing the lease we never received a signed copy for the landlord. This past May we received a 10 day notice to cure followed by a 10 day notice to terminate. Reason for the notices was reason to believe that an illegal sublet was taking place that was in violation of the the lease. They claimed my brother lived at another address. They found a cable bill in his name. He has a open and running cable account where his children live. His estranged wife also lives at that address.

We attended the hearing and the judge made it clear that there is nothing illegal about family living with family. The judge handling to case has had several cases that he ruled in favor of the tenant. Some were actually published. Since they still were in disbelief that we were family, the attorney representing the landlord got an adjournment pending an inspection of the premises. No one came for the inspection. We went back to court in anticipation of a dismissal. The attorney representing the landlord now states he wants to file a motion of/for discovery. He kept going back and fourth bickering with the judge about validity of prior cases the judge had ruled on and kind of pissed him off in my opinion. Prior to leaving the court room he suggested we seek legal counsel.

The judge mentioned something about the following:
- a primary residence case.
- sufficient nexus to the apartment

and a lot of other legal jargon that I have never heard in my life.


What can possibly going on? Can anyone please help me.

[ronin]

It sounds like text book harassment to me. It also sounds like you have a judge who is not rolling over for the LL. Be careful though, the LL might be waiting for that judge to rotate to a new position so they can try their nonsense argument to the new judge.

There is really no way to decipher the "jargon" without a transcript, and even then it may not be decipherable.

You need to get a lawyer or advocate to help you with your case in person where they can see all of your papers and help you figure out what's going on.

[TenantNet]

Are you in a Resolution Part of the court, of a trial part? I'm assuming you're in Housing Court, not Civil Court, is that correct? If so, there is no right to Discovery without permission of the court.

Based on what you said, this is a sublet holdover (what does it say on the petition)?

They can't just convert it into a non-primary case. That would depend on the proper serving of a Golub Notice in the window period, with would be 90-150 days prior to the ending of your lease. As you just started a new lease, the window does not open up again for a while. See the info on non-primary cases in the Forum's Reference section.

I would recommend talking to a lawyer. If nothing else, your having a lawyer will "bolster" the judge who might otherwise cave in to the argumentative LL lawyer. Some judges give the LL lawyers what they want just to make them go away.

On the merits, your brother may want to put together documentation that explains his circumstances and the cable bill, i.e., divorce papers.

[KV621]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for the quick responses.
Yes we are currently in the housing part of civil court. The LL lawyer said he wants discovery in order to take the case to trial. The Notice of Petition says its a 'Holdover".

The renewal lease that we had expired on 01/31/10. THe LL sent a renewal lease in November of 2010 to go into effect 02/01/2011. My brother signed it, payed the increased rent awaiting for our copy to come in the mail. It never came. We have to receive a sign copy back before the lease can be made valid? In May the LL stopped accepting the rent and we started receiving the court paperwork. We never received anything called a Golub Notice. I have just looked over the paperwork we have gotten and I don't see anything in there either. What exactly is a Golub Notice?

There is no legal divorce per say. They have parted ways sometime ago, have children together and cable is part of a verbal support agreement they have in place.

As for a lawyer, we really don't make much money. How much can something like this cost?

[TenantNet]

You didn't answer the question. Are you in the Resolution Part of the Court or the Trial Part? And what did the Petition say as to why they are taking you to court. The allegations would have to be spelled out in detail in the Notice to Cure and in the Petition.

The LL needs permission from the court for any Discovery.

The lease should be good even though you haven't received the signed copy (but did you do the smart thing and make a copy before sending it back to the LL?). You can force the LL to produce the signed copy in Housing Court. If you put "General Denial" in your court response, the LL must prove you're a tenant (usually done with a lease).

The Golub Notice would be called a Notice of non-renewal. But there's a window period for that notice. Otherwise he must wait until the next lease renewal comes up. Read the Reference Section I pointed out.

Actual divorce papers are not necessary, but a credible explanation is as the LL is suggesting he doesn't live there. Get other proof of his residency. Many ways to do that.

Yes it can get expensive, but best to at least consult with a lawyer up front to see if you can make it go away before it gets expensive. No one here makes much money, but when you have to do it, you do it.