Sublet overcharge?

[Persnippity45]

My two roommates and I are moving out of a loft we were sharing with the prime tenant. We believe that the prime tenant has been charging us more rent than what is on her lease and has been pocketing the profit. When asked for contact information for the landlord, she tells us that the landlord doesn't wish to speak to anyone that she shares her apartment with.

My question is, as this is not a rent-controlled apartment, is she legally allowed to overcharge on rent? And if not, what kind of action can I take?

Also, if I am not supposed to speak to the landlord, am I allowed to contact her to inform her of our suspicion and obtain confirmation?

[ronin]

Well....

If the apartment is non-regulated then there is no law setting the legal sublet rent (in regulated it is limited to 10% over the price of the prime tenants rent). If you are sharing the apartment and she is charging you more than she pays the LL, then there is nothing illegitimate about that since she is on the line if you guys bail. Of course, if it is an extreme difference in rent it can become abusive. Don't think of it as "profit". Think of it as "buffer" because when roommies and sublets bail owing rent, the prime tenant is on the hook.

However, the real question is does the LL approve of the sublease and does the main lease somehow bar sublets. Some do, some don't.

Contacting the LL may backfire in several ways. If there is no right to sublet in the lease, it may trigger your eviction. Also it may make the LL try to raise the rent.

As far as getting info from her or the LL. I think you should have checked her lease before moving in. Now that you are in you have lost your bargaining chip. The LL may share information with you or may not. There is nothing forcing him to, and several things suggesting he should keep quiet about the prime tenant's information (including rent). But as I said before, he may get greedy and up the rent.

IMHO

[TenantNet]

A few points. If it was a real loft, then it might be under Loft rules, not the normal RS rules (the OP incorrectly refers to rent control).

Second, sharing is not subletting. Ronin correctly states an additional 10% can be added for subletting. But sharing (i.e., roommates) is different. For rent stabilized units the RSC allows the prime tenant to charge 50% to the roommate. (there is some wiggle room on that depending on use of utilities, more than one roommate, etc). The idea is to prohibit a RS tenant from making an illegal profit. That undermines the rationale of the RS system and give LLs legitimate arguments against RS.

You can always find the building owner by looking at the NYC Dept. of Finance (ACRIS) database. Of course you can contact whoever you want for whatever reason you wish.

You can also file with DHCR if you suspect there's been an overcharge.

[ronin]

Tenant is right about that roommate thing.

I forgot about a case in Manhattan where an old lady was evicted because her roommate paid more than half the rent (happily I might add) to live on CPW. But that was a Rent Controlled unit. I forget the name of the case. But officially in the 1st Department- Manhattan and Bronx, they are much stricter about roommate rents. But I would think anyone would have a good argument for charging the extra 10% by referencing the sublet law as a definition of "not profiting" but the republican judges who hate RC may not agree (but it's not clear the argument was ever made). But the loft laws are a little different anyway.

Nonetheless, none of this applies to an unregulated loft. So you'd have determine if it is regulated.

[TenantNet]

As odd as it may seem, in some cases one might be better off with a "Republican" judge than a liberal Democrat. First, Democrats are not necessarily friends of tenants. It's just not the case whether it's a judge or politician. Second, some so-called conservative judges will apply the law as written (which is often good), not come up with contorted excuses to let the landlord off the hook.

[ronin]

Actually, I completely agree with that!! And it's true outside of Housing Court too. My prime example of that is Judge Raggi...