LL wants to renovate bathroom, only one bathroom in apt...

[okashii1]

My LL called today and said that he wants to renovate the bathroom in our apartment. The problem is that it will essentially make the bathroom unusable for 4-5 days. Of course, we are against this for obvious reasons, but he is insistent.
He suggested that during that time, we can use the upstairs people's bathroom, but we are merely acquaintances with those people, and I would not feel comfortable asking to used their bathroom, and they might not always be home when we need to go...etc.

I am wondering if there is any way to refuse? I frequently have to get up at night to use the restroom, and I am SURE that the upstairs people will not give us a key, so...I need to know what my rights are. It is an unregulated apartment, and we live in Brooklyn.


Any advice will be appreciated.

[TenantNet]

Are you sure you aren't rent stab?

[okashii1]

I am sure we aren't rent stabilized because he raises the rent quite often, and if we ARE rent stabilized, my roommate doesn't know a thing about it, and she is the original tenant.
I need to know asap what I can do to prevent or postpone the renovation because we don't want to be without a bathroom for 5 days in the summer.

[TenantNet]

Your rights depend on whether you're rent stab or not. And unfortunately too many tenants haven't a clue of their status ... often being told falsely by the LL.

To start ... was the building built prior to 1974? Are there six or more units? If the building is a coop/condo, was the tenant in occupancy before it converted to coop/condo status?

If you answer yes to all three, then there's a chance it should be rent stab. If not a coop/condo, then the last question doesn't matter.

If he's doing a MCI, then eventually you'll have to let him in. In any case, in my opinion, access for such work can be a negotiation and the terms need to be acceptable to you, and in writing.

[jkgal]

TN, could you please elaborate on the written agreement needed to access an apartment for construction by a LL? Is there a law about this? Please let me know - thank you!

[jkgal]

TN, I neglected to mention that I'm specifically interested in a law regarding a R/S apartment. However, given the location of this post, any information regarding non-regulated apartments would doubtless be helpful, too. Thank you again.

[TenantNet]

Look at the access rules in the reference section

[concord]

A follow-up question for TenantNet.

Although the last posting for this topic is from July 28 and hence, the tenant has probably resolved the issue a question still remains. Are we saying that a landlord of a non-regulated apartment may actually have the right to say the following to a tenant?

“Although your bathroom is in perfect working order I will make unnecessary improvements to it and cause you an inconvenience while I am at it. I really don’t care where you will be relieving yourself or if you stink when you go to work because of the fact that you couldn’t take a shower before reporting to your job. So what if your rent includes having a working bathroom; do you think I care? I am making the improvements, period, and I shall not be providing you with alternate bathroom facilities in the mean time.”