I rent my apartment from an absentee landlord in a coop building. I recently discovered that my landlord has been delinquent on her coop fees, delinquent enough for her board to hire an attorney and send her letters. Now they're sending me letters demanding that I pay my rent to them in lieu of her fees until further notice, or they will start eviction proceedings. My landlord's also demanding her rent, and if I don't pay her, I'm in violation of my lease, which, of course, puts me in a position to be evicted. Section 352-1(3) of NYS general business law SEEMS to protect me, but this is also the section quoted to me by the board's attorney in a letter. Needless to say, I don't trust that I should go by this alone and am looking for other sources of information.
Either way, I'm in a position to be evicted, and the best part is... I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING!!! I pay my rent on time. I have an irresponsible landlord, and now I'm getting punished. I'm concerned about this predicament as well as my future ability to rent apartments in New York City if eviction proceedings appear on my record. An attorney friend has advised me to put my rent in escrow and let the two parties work it out. How effective is this? Any advice would be appreciated.