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Questionable New Lease Agreement

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Questionable New Lease Agreement

Postby KyotoSandz » Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:04 am

About the property:
Built: 1950
Type of Building/Rental: Co-op rental (from management)
Location: Kings County Bklyn, NY
Units: 108
Floors: 6
Status: Unregulated
On Lease: My husband & I
Length of Lease: 1 Year
Time at residence: 1 Year 2 3/4 months

Summary of Situation
My Super indicated (months ago) that the rent was supposed to increase, therefore, I was on the lookout for the notice, since my lease was up from December 16, my original move in date.

After paying the regular rent, and not being notified about an increase (I followed my super's advice to leave well enough alone), for two months. The management company has just sent a notice (print date March 15, received March 18, 2016) about the rental increase ( with some incorrect information about when the new payment charges should be implemented from and to, May 1, 2016 to April 2016 :? :shock:, and my name spelt incorrectly ).

Additionally, the notice stated that if a response was not given "before June 5, 2016, I will be deemed a month-to-month tenant and the rent will increase to the higher rate of $1430 :shock: , effective May 1, 2016 without protection of the One year lease term."

Question
Although the lease has expired, is the management allowed to charge a new rental amount, since they have been taking the regular payments for the past two months?

Final Thoughts
The current rent is $1250, and they want to raise it to $1280. Things don't seem legit in reference to how this letter is stated, and the fact that they're changing when the lease will be renewed by (instead of December, they changed it to an earlier month). This is a contract, and I know that one is bind by it, if you choose to sign it, therefore, I don't want to do this until I find out if this is being done in the proper way :? .  

If any additional information is needed, please feel free to ask...
Thank you in advance for your response! 
KyotoSandz
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:32 pm

Re: Questionable New Lease Agreement

Postby TenantNet » Mon Mar 21, 2016 4:33 am

You say you're unregulated. You had a lease and it expired. Any new lease cannot be retroactive. On a lease renewal, usually 30 days notice is required, meaning a notice on March 18 can't take effect until May 1.

You stated, "they're changing when the lease will be renewed by (instead of December, they changed it to an earlier month)" which is unclear. Your lease expired in December and now a renewal is being offered in March that would take effect in May. Correct?

While the super might give you a heads up on some things, you should ignore him on anything related to a lease.

As an unregulated tenant you have very few rights other than what is in your lease. When it expired, you essentially were a month-to-month tenant on the same terms as your original lease (i.e., it should be treated as if it were renewed at the end of every month).

Our opinion is that the LL may indeed increase the rent on a lease renewal, even if it is late in being offered. That you've been paying the original rent in the meantime does not lock in your rental amount from being increased.

In this climate, an increase of 2.4% is not much at all.
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