sublet

[bingham]

i am subleting an apartment from someone who took up residence elsewhere. the primary tenant has recently received an eviction notice from the landlord which says "puruant to rent stabilization code 2524.2 and 2524.4 (c) the landlord intends to discontinue the hotel tenancy because the premises is not occupied as the tenant's primary residence..."
The primary tenant is on a month to month lease which i pay in full every month to the building. do i have recourse to become the primary tenant or to otherwise avoid being evicted?

[Anna]

Sounds like a termination notice; first step to an eviction proceeding (lawsuit).

In a hotel, if the landlord has been accepting rent directly from you with knowledge that the tenant has left, you may be entitled to become the tenant.

The landlord obviously knows you live there, so it MUST serve you the Petition (paper that really starts the lawsuit). Even if it doesn't, you have every right to show up in court on the date on the Petition and claim you tenancy.

Call the West Side SRO Law Project first thing in the a.m.: 212.799.9638. If you live in their catch-basin, you should plan on taking that paper to their clinic every Thursday 4:00pm-6:00pm 647 Columbus Ave, near 91st St.

[Anna]

Sorry.... forgot to mention that both SRO Law Projects handle tenants in hotels, rooming houses, and SRO's (single room occupancy). They are the experts in these sub-specialities of Rent Stabilized and Rent Control tenancies.