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Immediate family guest question

Rights for non-regulated tenants

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Immediate family guest question

Postby MWOQ » Mon Nov 18, 2013 1:46 pm

My wife and I moved to Brooklyn in a 2bd apt. My father (who resides abroad) will be visiting us over the holidays and will stay for exactly 31 days (has a round-trip ticket). Our lease does not say anything about forbidding overnight guests.Our lease only mentions my name along with my wife's and our dog. It also mentions that we are allowed to live with our kids (does not mention immediate family - but I realized that's a 2004 lease form) According to the 2011 tenant rights we have the right to live with immediate family and there is a 30 day window in which to give notice to the landlord about the new occupant though I don't know if that is necessary given that my father's visit has a clear end date. One of my neighbors said that the LL once asked him for $500 for usage of extra water when he had guests overnight (true not family just friends) but that still just sound somewhat abusive. If such a similar unpleasant situation will arise I will direct the landlord to the tenant's law though I guess that may also mean burning a bridge or two for a future lease renewal. Maybe I'll give him $50 for extra hot water and tell him my dad rarely takes showers. Any similar experiences or am I just freaking out way too much? Oh I thought I never say I miss owning a house but at this point I do. Thanks.
Last edited by MWOQ on Mon Nov 18, 2013 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby TenantNet » Mon Nov 18, 2013 2:27 pm

You're freaking out too much. I don't know to what law you are referring when you say "2011 tenants rights," but I don't know if anything has changed in the last few decades about guests. If the LL says anything about hot water, I would just mumble something and walk away.
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Postby MWOQ » Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:30 pm

TenantNet wrote:You're freaking out too much. I don't know to what law you are referring when you say "2011 tenants rights," but I don't know if anything has changed in the last few decades about guests. If the LL says anything about hot water, I would just mumble something and walk away.


Thanks for the reply. What I meant about the tenant rights is the booklet available at http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resource ... guide.html that had a bit about apt. sharing, immediate family, etc.

Ok, I'll keep your advice in mind and mumble something in my native language. What if LL mumbles back :)
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Postby TenantNet » Mon Nov 18, 2013 4:59 pm

First, it's immediate family (which is not really a roommate or an occupant). Second, it's not subletting (you will still be there, right?).

In theory the tenant is supposed to tell the LL about new people, family or occupants if they will be there 30 days or longer. In reality, the LL asks and the tenant responds. So wait for the LL to say something, and then put him off until it's over. There's nothing that says you need to respond within x days.

You can just say - if you are backing into a corner - you had a "guest over the holidays," and leave the rest ambiguous. The ONLY information the LL is entitled to, and only if he presses for it, is the name of the person. You don't need to give the LL any other information, i.e., the nature of the relationship, how long the stay was, and so on.

And in the meantime, you might want to see if the unit should be under rent stabilization.
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Postby MWOQ » Mon Nov 18, 2013 6:43 pm

TenantNet wrote:First, it's immediate family (which is not really a roommate or an occupant). Second, it's not subletting (you will still be there, right?).

In theory the tenant is supposed to tell the LL about new people, family or occupants if they will be there 30 days or longer. In reality, the LL asks and the tenant responds. So wait for the LL to say something, and then put him off until it's over. There's nothing that says you need to respond within x days.

You can just say - if you are backing into a corner - you had a "guest over the holidays," and leave the rest ambiguous. The ONLY information the LL is entitled to, and only if he presses for it, is the name of the person. You don't need to give the LL any other information, i.e., the nature of the relationship, how long the stay was, and so on.

And in the meantime, you might want to see if the unit should be under rent stabilization.


Thanks for the additional clarifications. Yeah we'll all be here, not subletting or anything. Our unit is not rent stabilized unfortunately, just checked.
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Postby TenantNet » Mon Nov 18, 2013 8:11 pm

On the RS issue, you need to go through a rent history. I don't know what you checked, but the LL will tell you that, and is often wrong.
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Postby MWOQ » Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:35 pm

TenantNet wrote:On the RS issue, you need to go through a rent history. I don't know what you checked, but the LL will tell you that, and is often wrong.


Thanks. Will call the NY State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) to check that out. It's a 4 unit apt. bld. with rent under 2200 and under 2000. Would the LL be forced to stabilize it? Don't want to get in trouble for asking him this upfront.
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Postby TenantNet » Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:47 pm

RS is for buildings that are 6 units and above, so maybe your unit was never rent stab. Some buildings were six units and the LLs combined units. In such cases, there's a chance RS might apply, but you would need to see if any units were combined to make the total number of units less than six.
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