Owner Occupy

[<randy>]

First this was a BIG HINT that you should Immediately cut all expenses and save money for a Lawyer.

Yes a landlord can try and evict for personal use, but he has to give you notice of i think at least 120 days before your lease ends.

And he must live in the aprtment for 3 years as his permenant residence. or else you would be entitled to sue for it back at the last rent you were paying.

But this is where it gets expensive and detective work is important.....it must be his permenat full time residence, so you have to see f he lives else where, or sends his kids t a scholl thats not in your school district, did he change all his addresses to this aprtment, did he pay nyc taxes and vote here......

And if he is a corporation , he cannot evict you. Lots and Lots of questions that need answers if you wanted to fight this....

[<jen>]

He can choose any apartment he wants, if he's legit, maybe he'll let you move into the vacant apt. (is it the same size?) If he's crooked, keep your eye on him and you could have a lawsuit on your hands.

[<Red Zephyr>]

I know of a Landlady who took over an apartment in her 10 unit Queens building based on owner occupancy. Her grandson needed an apartment, and the apartment she wanted for him also happened to be have the lowest rent.

The tenant of that apartment balked at leaving and took the case to court. She questioned why the landlady would want the lowest priced apartment when others were available. Landlady's response: It is the only apartment her grandson could afford (grandson was a city cop).

Bottom line: Landlady won. Tenant got evicted and got stuck with several thousand dollars in legal bills.

[<rrriop>]

zephyr:

The grandson must still live in that apartment for 3 years as a permenant residence, so are they checking up on him?

You could have a "friend" send him a certfied letter return reciept ........heck i got 4 letters last year by people checking out their family tree on ancestry.com asking if i was a realtive.....

That would be a good bogus letter that he wouldnt get suspicious of.

[MikeW]

Along the same lines, can an owner take over multiple units to combine them?

[MikeW]

Taken from DHRC Fact Sheet 10

According to the Rent Stabilization Law, only one of the individual owners of a building can take possession of one or more dwelling units for personal or immediate family use and occupancy, even if the building has joint or multiple ownership.

There are restrictions for eviction of senior citizens, but otherwise it looks like other tenants are fair game.