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LL refuses to renew my Lease!

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LL refuses to renew my Lease!

Postby HonestTenant » Thu Aug 05, 2010 6:06 pm

I have been renting my Apartment for over 6 years and have always been given the option to renew my annual lease by the LL year after year.

Back in Feb of 2010, I agreed to a "Stipulation of Settlement" at NY Civil Court where I agreed to pay back-rent that was owed on a monthly basis for 3 months (Feb, March, April) in addition to my monthly rent to get caught up on rent and prevent any kind of eviction. I completed all requirements with the court and paid everything off by end of April. Since that time, my lease has expired and I have been reluctantly on a month-to-month rent with the LL. I have requested several times that I want to renew my lease and he agreed that if I paid up and met all my requirements of the Stipulation he would renew my lease but still hasn't to this date. I have been up to date and paying my monthly rent on time since.

I recently received a notice on my door that states that "The LL has elected to terminate my month to month tenancy at the Premises effective August 31st, 2010 and I am hereby required to quit, vacate and surrender possession thereof, or the landlord will commence an action of proceeding in a court to recover possession of the premises".

I immediately called and asked again to renew my lease telling him that he agreed to do this once I completed my requirements on the Stipulation. He is now telling me that I have over $4,700 in legal fees that are owed by his lawyers from notices given to me over the years and he will only renew my lease if I agree to pay all of the legal fees immediately! Otherwise I must vacate by August 31st!

Please help... not sure what my rights are. Feeling a little blackmailed here!
HonestTenant
 
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Postby TenantNet » Thu Aug 05, 2010 7:12 pm

In an unregulated unit, there is no obligation by the landlord to renew the lease. However on a month-to-month situation, they must give 30-days notice. See the item in the Forum's reference section. So if you just got the notice, it's not effective until October 1st.

The LL demanding legal fees that were not awarded by a court is not legal. I would get him on record saying this, either by a letter demanding that amount or record him on tape (check to see if that's admissible). It's absolute fraud IMHO. However I don't know if that's actionable. Check with a lawyer.
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Postby HonestTenant » Fri Aug 06, 2010 10:36 am

Unfortunately, they did give me enough notice. If the unit was unregulated, meaning rent stabilized, would that change anything? Not sure if it is but just wondering what kind of foot hold I might have.

Regarding the legal fees. The LL told me that I am responsible for these fees regardless of whether he renews my lease or not. Is this true? If I decide to vacate the apartment am I still legally responsible for paying those fees? Can he withhold my $4,200 security deposit against it?

Also technically, how much time do I have? If I don't vacate the premises by August 31st as outlined in the notice, can he evict me immediately or does he have to go through a court procedure? How long before this would happen?
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Postby TenantNet » Fri Aug 06, 2010 10:50 am

$4200 deposit? Either you paid several months deposit (which could be illegal) or, if your rent is that much, I would suspect you can afford a lawyer.

Why would you think you might be RS? Have you looked at the issue during your tenancy? We've discussed this many times here.

On the legal fees, I answered that.
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Postby HonestTenant » Fri Aug 06, 2010 11:10 am

$4200 deposit was for 2 months rent.

I never got a clear answer from the DHCR on the RS status.

More importantly, the entire issue revolves around the legal fees that built up over the years. These legal fees have been itemized on my monthly rent bill for years. The LL has asked me to pay these fees in order to renew my lease otherwise I must leave but he is saying I would still be responsible for these fees either way. Do you know if this is true? Am I responsible for those fees? The court Stip had only to do with back rent owed to prevent eviction proceedings. They did not demand any past due legal fees.
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Postby TenantNet » Fri Aug 06, 2010 12:01 pm

Look above; I answered that.
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