roommate rent overcharge, then illegal sublet overcharge

[ceo4]

I moved into an apartment in Feb., and paid 700$ a month to the prime tenant who shared the one bedroom place with me (she built a wall in the living room for privacy). In September, she told me she was moving out and found a new girl to rent her room, asking 800$ a month for it. She said she would lower mine to 600$ at this point. The way she went about this process made me question her integrity, so when the new girl moved in, we looked at the rent invoice after a month. It turns out that the entire rent is 829$ a month and the apt. is rent stabilized. What are my rights as far as getting my money back as a roommate, and then as an illegal sublet (I am sure she didn't okay it with management)? Can I try to take over the lease by pointing out her illegal activities to management (the wall she built, the overcharge, the sublet)? I am very angry at this point and spoken to her and she doesn't think she has done anything wrong by having me practically pay the entire amount of the apt. since Feb. and threatened to evict me with her boyfriend by moving my stuff out themselves. I am very poor and cannot afford a lawyer. Please help.

[oldladydriver]

Well if she was a nice person maybe not, she may have been having some personal issues and needed the money. And when you were looking for a place back then, did she not help you. So if she was a bad person i would talk to the lanlord, but they may end up hiking the rent to what you all are paying. this forum is very helpful, someone can and will show you the way... damn that sounded like a biblical statement.. nevertheless good luck. im in a situation with a person i sublet my apt to.he wont pay or leave. welcome to the world of scammers!!

[Lilly]

Well now that your overcharging prime tenant is gone, you will be too. You go to the LL and he will know the tenant no longer lives there and move to evict. You tell the LL you were being overcharged and he will move to evict. As a mere occupant you have no rights to remain in the apartment after the tenant moves out, especially when the rent is so low; the LL will want to renovate to greatly raise the rent. Either way, you open your mouth, you lose. I sincerely doubt that the LL will give you the lease, unless of course you agree to a 24%(approx) rent increase.
You can however, file a rent overcharge complaint with DHCR or better yet in small claims court.

[Lilly]

No, as an occupant you are not "entitled" to 3x the overcharge. There is no provision in the rent code that provides for treble damages against the tenant by an occupant/roommate who has been overcharged. Against a landlord, yes.

[ceo4]

I spoke with her again today, and she still does not think that she has done anything wrong. She did say that she spoke to her landlord about subletting a while ago, which means that we are not illegal sublettors...which gives us more rights, yes? Also, she has changed her mailing address to where she is now living in Staten Island. May I also mention that she and her boyfriend are moving to Australia at the end of December...she must have been hoping to fund her trip with the apartment and keep it while she was gone at the same time. She is also collecting unemployment from the government while working under the table at a restaurant. So she is working the system, every which way. But I just want some sort of resolution to my anger at being robbed by her for the past 9 months.

[ceo4]

In addition, she is not a nice person because I thought she was a friend this entire time...but instead she watched me work 50+ hours a week at times to make the rent and my student loans, all while she paid next to nothing, and didn't feel bad about it at all. Secondly, I don't care if I get evicted at this point because I am going to have to move out either way, and any way that makes it more difficult for her is fine with me.

[mjr203]

THIS IS ALL JUST MY OPINION AND OBSERVATIONS... interested to hear what other people have to say.

I don't think that it matters if you are only a roommate, contrary to Lilly's opinion... I think you are still entitled to 3x damages for an overcharge in a rent stabilized apartment (of course you have to get DHCR to rule or sue in civil court...).

It would be an idea for you and your new roommate to stop paying your inflated rent amounts to the "prime tenant". Tell her you have found out what the legal regulated rent for the apartment is and that it is illegal for her to sublet for more than that amount and in addition it was illegal for her to rent to you while you two lived together for more than the proportional amount of rent.

This sounds now like an illusory tenancy situation. Your best bet is to try to get a vacancy lease on the apartment from the LL and get on the lease. I don't feel bad for your old roomie/Prime tenant who has abused this system left and right.

If her and her boyfriend make any attempt to "evict" you from the premises, you should march right down to the police station and tell them that. It would be an illegal eviction and they could go to jail for doing so. Maybe you should put another lock on the place in case... (opinions?) from housingnyc.com ---

"To evict a tenant, a landlord must sue in court and win the case. Only a sheriff, marshal or constable can carry out a court ordered warrant to evict a tenant. (RPAPL ß749) A landlord may not take the law into his/her own hands and evict a tenant by use of force or unlawful means. For example, a landlord cannot use threats of violence, remove a tenant's possessions, lock the tenant out of the apartment, or willfully discontinue essential services such as water or heat. (Real Property Law ß235) When a tenant is evicted, the landlord may not retain the tenant's personal belongings or furniture.

A tenant who is put out of his/her apartment in a forcible or unlawful manner is entitled to recover triple damages in a legal action against the wrongdoer. Landlords in New York City who use illegal methods to force a tenant to move are also subject to both criminal and civil penalties. Further, the tenant is entitled to be restored to occupancy. (RPAPL ß713, ß853)"

Basically she overcharged you nearly 2000$ in 7 months and continues to do so, except now is overcharging 2 people (you and new roomie) by $671 a month.

She should not be allowed to get away with this abuse.

-POINTER

ps HJ posted this useful link in another thread... http://tenant.net/Rights/illevict/illevict.html

<small>[ November 11, 2002, 10:28 AM: Message edited by: pointerout ]</small>

[mjr203]

I alluded to your actual LL in my post... but just to reinforce what someone said above-- there is certain to be a reaction from the LL to this matter.

They certainly will be mad at the prime tenant making $ on the apartment when the legal rent paid to the LL is so low ($829). They will no doubt want to evict the prime tenant.

The real question is whether they will offer you a vacancy lease so they get their 18-20-something% increase (depending on last raise of rent etc) or whether they will try to get you out and renovate to increase the rent... I seriously doubt that they will be able to get the rent above the $2000 line for dereg so hopefully giving you a vacancy lease will be their best bet.

-POINTER

[MikeW]

Let me make this as simple as it can be given the situation.

First, don't do ANYTHING with the landlord. If he figures out the prime tenant is gone, he'll file for an eviction ASAP.

Currently, you are in an illegal sublet/illusary tenancy situation. If you take the right steps, you could end up with legal possession of the apartment. You will need to get a lawyer to do this, but it might very well be worth it. But whatever you're going to do, you have to do it before the LL figures out what's going on and files for an eviction.

There are complicating factors. I don't know if there is any minimum time period that the prime tenant has to be gone before the tenancy is considered illusary. Also, the fact that there are two of you subletting the apartment may be problematic. These are questions for the lawyer.

As far as recovering the overcharge, you are entitled to triple damamges for the amount of the overcharge from the time the relationship with the prime tenant become an illegal sublet. I don't know what the situation is for an overcharge for a roommate. I don't think the new DHRC code specified damages.

[Carey]

DO NOT TELL THE LANDLORD!!!!! you will only make it harder to stay in your apt. the quickest and easiest way is to get a lawyer and go to small claims court any other course of action ie dhcr will take months