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building owner won't give me a key

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building owner won't give me a key

Postby generatrix » Sat Jan 12, 2013 12:54 pm

I want a key to the front door of my building. A new owner bought the building and only gave my roommate 2 keys. My roommate/landlord has one key, and another roommate has the only other key. The new owner wants to kick out my roommate/landlord because he has roommates and they claim that the apartment is not his "primary residence," so that he cannot add roommates without putting them on the lease. I don't care about any situation that may be occurring between my roommate and the owner. I just want a key to the front door so that I can get in and out of the building while I look for a new apartment. What can I do? I'm a New York attorney, but don't specialize in landlord-tenant law. My roommate gave me the property manager/owner's phone (which I have called asking for a key), which is xxx-xxx-xxxx. I googled the number and did not get any information about the company.
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Postby TenantNet » Sat Jan 12, 2013 2:07 pm

We x'd out the phone number as personal information (about you or your LL) should not be posted on the forum. You also don't say if the unit is rent regulated or not. That might have a bearing on things.

This raises a lot of questions about providing of keys, if there can be more than one roommate (or any roommate) and if having a roommate requires a lease change (generally it does not as having a roommate AKA occupant AKA licensee AKA undertenant is a right defined in the NYS Real Property Law). It is also an illusory tenancy issue.

Not having a key could raise issues of illegal or constructive eviction if you have been there for 30 days or more.

The more practical approach might be simply to make a copy of the key. Some keys are marked "do not duplicate," but I've seen some locksmiths ignore that. Even better, if you get one of those plastic key covers so a place making a copy won't even see the "do not duplicate" message. See http://onestop-key-rings.co.uk/key-cove ... -p-46.html

Wikipedia says it's a passive deterrent and I am not aware of any legal prohibition.

This might be a way to bypass the problem.
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more detail

Postby generatrix » Sat Jan 12, 2013 3:06 pm

It is not a rent-controlled apartment as far as I know. The key does say "do not duplicate" on it, and unfortunately or fortunately I do not have any type of shady contacts that would help me get the key duplicated.
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Postby TenantNet » Sat Jan 12, 2013 3:13 pm

You don't need a "shady" contact. I know some tenants put the plastic cover over it and a locksmith or hardware store generally won't look. As far as I know, there's nothing illegal about it.

If you want to get into all the legal issues, start at viewtopic.php?t=4913
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