Add an extra roommate and I'm charged the same rent?

[pack2themoon]

I rent a room of a 2br apartment from my roommate who is the lease holder. We have oral agreement there there will be no guests over for both of us. When I moved in I realized she took use of the living room exclusively, i.e. Sleeping in the couch every single night instead of on her bed in her bedroom, sitting in the couch all day long and using the dining table as her office. The apartment is small and the livingroom is open in front of my room, so if she stays there I have no privacy at all, because I have to pass her to go to the restroom or kitchen.

After one month I expressed my concern to her and she was extremely unhappy and asked me to move out in 2 weeks since I'm not comfortable. I told her that's not acceptable, I should have at least 30days notice in advance to find new apartment(we had oral agreement but no written one).

And then she told me she wil have a 3rd person move in in 2 weeks. That person will take her bedroom, and she will live in the living room. It's my choice to move or stay. She also demand me to remove my 2 moving boxes which took a little space in the kitchen to make space for the new roommate(all 3 big closet in the living room were occupied by her, I don't have any public space to use).
AND MY RENT IS THE SAME!!!

What should I do??? This is the middle of the semester, I am already stessed out by school. What is the best way to deal with this?

Thank you very much!

btw, I'm in New York state.

[TenantNet]

Do you know if the apartment is rent stabilized?

[pack2themoon]

Yes, I just asked the landlord, he says it's rent stablized. But he wouldn't interfere. What should I do? Go to the court?

[TenantNet]

When you rent a room from a tenant, that tenant becomes your landlord and you are an undertenant. You agreed to rent a specific area (your room) and possible the communal use of certain other areas, i.e., bathroom, kitchen and maybe living room. If it wasn't discussed, then don't assume.

First, the prime tenant needs to give you written notice to force you to leave. It's my understanding that has to be 30 days written notice. Then he/she can take you to court if you don't leave. It's illegal to lock you out. Nor can they move your stuff (from your room) to let a new person in.

But letting a third person in might be OK ... or not. From your standpoint, the prime tenant can let his room out for another roommate. That's not your business.

However, if you are being charged more than 50% of the rent (or 1/3 when there's a third person) exclusive of utilities, then you can complain to DHCR for an overcharge. Don't expect that to be decided anytime soon. But it can be done.

And check the roommate law because the tenant will probably be limited to one roommate, not two. But it's up to the real landlord to make a fuss over that.

Finally, if you do move, and if you have a deposit, consider whether or not not paying rent for the final month. Unless there are real damages, some vindictive tenants (or roommate) will not return the deposit without a legitimate reason. Although a deposit is not supposed to be used as a last month's rent, it can be used that way. I would also put a lock on your door to protect your possessions.

[pack2themoon]

My main complaint is : roommate confirmed that in less than a week the third occupant will move in, and I should still pay my $600 rent based on 2 occupants. So by doing this she's going to overcharge me more than 1/3 of the legitimate rent of the whole apartment, assuming the $600 rent was fair. (I just found out the 2br is actully converted from a studio, so the totall rent of the apartment might be lower than $1200, as rent stablized and occupied by roommate for several years.)

We have written agreement that security deposit can be used as last month rent. So I'm not going to pay her anymore rent since I decided to move.

I will argue with her that once the 3rd roommate moved in, which will be 03/30 , my rent should fall to $600x2/3=$400 based on pevious rate. So my deposit of $600 is sufficient for 1.5month rent and I should be able to stay till 05/15. And by 03/30 I will give her witten notice to move out in May. (I pay utitilies bills seperately to her each month.)

If she is not happy or does not agree, she can seek legal approach and I have no fear.

And as you suggested, which I also got permission from the real landlord, I will install a lock on my bedroom door.

Do you think this is an appropriete way to deal with it? Thanks again!

[TenantNet]

You can't figure out if there is a real overcharge unless you know the rent being paid to the landlord (and even that might not be legal). But still you can always file a complaint with DHCR.

Is the conversion to a 2BR even legal? Was it done by the tenant or by the LL? It might create problems with fire egress.

If the deposit is for the last month's rent, then seems to me you have a right to stay there for that month - even if there's a notice.

Your agreement is independent of the rent paid by the third person. However, it could create an overcharge by virtue of RS coverage. If you file a complaint, you can maintain the complaint even after you move out. However, any such complaint must be for rent actually overpaid, and for one month, that won't be much.

Seems you do have some rights, but it can also be a complete mess. This is better negotiated rather than litigated. Don't undersell your rights, but it's better to make a clean break in the end.

[pack2themoon]

You words totally make sense to me. I apprecite!

Yes those are just my thought, and I never want to get the issue litigated.
By confirming and mentioning my legal rights to her, I hope a clean break can be made by negociation.

[ronin]

I find it hard to believe that a LL doesn't care about a tenant overcharging in a stabilized apartment. Particularly one with only $1200 legal rent.

From the above it sounds like you are making a number of assumptions. It may be that the prime tenant planned to rent out her bedroom from the beginning- particularly since she never used it. So the rent might actually be $1800, $600 split three ways, which sounds way more believable than a $1200 large 2BR. Your trying to low ball the roommate could start a whole lot of trouble for you since she seems to be operating with the landlord's blessing.

Maybe you should just focus on finding your new spot and pay the $600 you agreed to pay from your deposit and move on.

[TenantNet]

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