Landlord is showing my apartment outside of specified times

[cpthomas]

Hi everyone!

My lease is up on September 1st and I am desperate to leave my apartment. The landlord has been very difficult, it's overpriced, it's noisy.. let's just say I'm anxious to leave.

I am a good tenant and have always paid my rent on time. I recently sent back my lease renewal form stating that I wouldn't be renewing my lease, and they began showing the apartment immediately. Along with my lease renewal form, I also sent this note:

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Dear XXXXXX,

Because we are not renewing our lease, we understand that you will need to show the apartment in order to obtain a new renter. We will be available to have the apartment shown at the following times:

Monday-Thursday, 6:45-8:00pm
Saturday-Sunday, 1:00-4:00pm

Please let us know 24 hours in advance before scheduling a showing of the apartment so we can organize accordingly. Please let us know if there's anything more we can do to help you rent the apartment in a timely fashion.

Best,
XXXXXX

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Because I am a prudent tenant, I have a webcam running on a motion sensor in my apartment. Almost immediately I got footage of the apartment being shown while I was at work, with no authorization or notice given to me beforehand.

What I want to know is this: does this breach allow me to break my lease early? My new apartment is open on August 1st, and it would be great to leave as soon as possible. What rights do I have?

Thanks for your help!
Chris

[TenantNet]

Change the locks

Send the LL a letter forbidding any showing without your permission AND presence. Tell them you will comply with showing based on the access rules (see our reference section - link above). They will take advantage unless you stop it. Just change the locks. And if they enter again, call the police and make a complaint.

[cpthomas]

Thanks for the advice! I plan on changing the locks and taking a firm stance with them--even if it means contacting the police.

However, I'm wondering if it's within my rights to break the lease a month early based on this breach. I'd like to leave the apartment as soon as possible, and I'm hoping that this may give me the legal right to do so.

[TenantNet]

That's not correct. While a tenant does have an obligation to allow a LL access to show a unit, giving adequate notice does not create an automatic right to just walk in. If my LL tried that, I would have the police there in 5 minutes. There are downsides if tenants are not cooperative, but pragmatically, it's a negotiation. The downside is that the LL can seek a tenant's eviction for not giving access, but if the tenant is moving anyway, that's not much of an incentive. So it makes sense for a LL to try to work with a tenant, seeking show times that are at good hours and with the tenant present.

[concord]

(Question for coreyjace – just out of curiosity)

Mr. Real Estate,
You state that most of your clients “don’t want to see an apartment at 7 at night”.

This seems odd however, based upon the following:

The majority of New York City residents work during normal daytime hours (basically around 8am-6pm).
I conclude as such because more subway trains run during those hours. Also the trains are much more packed during those hours. In comparison, trains run much less frequently during the off-hours and they are less occupied with passengers. Also, the retail businesses functioning during the day far outnumber the retail businesses functioning at night.

Also, in all likelihood, you primarily show apartments to employed New York residents.

If I were seeking an apartment I would find it much more convenient to meet my real estate broker right after work in the evening to see an apartment or two rather than taking time off work to do so. I would think that most people would approach it in that way.

Not to mention, most tenants currently occupying the unit would likely want perspective tenants to arrive in the evening rather than in the day during the current tenant’s absence.

Are you saying that (i) most people would rather take a day off work to see an apartment, (ii) most of your perspective clients are employed during the graveyard shift, (iii) most people prefer to take time off work to see an apartment, (iv) or finally, do you just wish that you didn’t have to stick around until 8:00PM showing people apartments and therefore you manipulate schedules to make people see apartments during the day so that you don’t have to work until 8:00PM?