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Minor Infraction to Legal Lease & Possible Eviction

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Minor Infraction to Legal Lease & Possible Eviction

Postby miss_kate » Tue Oct 29, 2002 5:36 pm

My roommate & I signed a year-lease last May 1 and we are now facing verbal threats for eviction. This is the story in a nutshell: Our lease had a rider that stated we were not supposed to go on the roof, but we broke the rule. (They also never gave us a hard-copy of the lease as they said it was "standard") The landlady got pissed off & called our house screaming that we were evicted ASAP. Now our landlady's husband offered us a "letter of understanding" that says we should pay a penalty fee of $500 (for breaking the rule & because there is damage - but the house is ancient & there was a worker on the roof to install direct tv for a different tenant, not sure if they can prove the damage was done by us) and since he claims they never co-signed the lease, that the lease is null & void. (He faxed us a copy with signatures -ours!- missing & he wrote "null & void" all over the place - is this legal???) Therefore he is offering us a month to month rent. (Can't they just kick us out if we agree to this?) So, what do we do? Is our lease valid even if they didn't "co-sign" the lease but we signed it in front of her husband (a manhattan rental property agent). Also, we have been good tenants, pay our rent on the 1st of every month and have been sensitive to any complaints (i.e. no trips to the roof after the initial scolding) I am so lost as to what to do and this is extremely frustrating. Is there any way to get around this? Do we have any rights & if so, what? Any help/advice would be appreciated.
miss_kate
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2002 2:01 am
Location: NYC

Re: Minor Infraction to Legal Lease & Possible Eviction

Postby miss_kate » Tue Oct 29, 2002 7:44 pm

interesting update: i just spoke to the attorney general's office today, who informed me that we do NOT have a legal lease as we don't have a copy that was counter-signed by the landlady. he tried to console me by stating that it is a bitch to try to make people move out, but we are pretty sick of feeling uncomfortable in our apartment... seems like conceding might be the best bet. one last question though... if we pay our rent this month (or if they take our payment and cash the check...) does this mean that the terms of our "agreement" are good for another month? does anyone recommend not paying rent but using "last months rent" as the true last month's rent? What are the rules in Brooklyn?
miss_kate
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2002 2:01 am
Location: NYC

Re: Minor Infraction to Legal Lease & Possible Eviction

Postby miss_kate » Thu Oct 31, 2002 5:24 pm

so, either way... at some point we will have to vacate the premises before the original 1-year term is up. our biggest concern now is last month's rent & security deposit.... we are going to pay our rent as usual tomorrow (nov. 1) and see if they take it... if they do we can assume that the court proceedings have not been started yet. ideally we would like to wait until after jan. 1 to leave the apt... as we are both extremely busy and will be out of town for the holidays. this whole thing is so awful because we simply do not know what to do. i know that we have to be "served" papers but do we just hang tight until they start proceedings? help.
miss_kate
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2002 2:01 am
Location: NYC


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