I'm having some major issues with my landlord and I very much need some advice on what actions to take and what my rights are. Here's the long and short of what's going on:
I live in Brooklyn, NY and since June I have been renting a basement apartment within a brownstone house with another girl. There is no written lease and both I and my roommate pay the landlord individually. My landlord lives in the apartment above us.
Lately my landlord has been acting very strangely, particularly toward myself. There was a situation where I had accidentally locked myself out of the house and my only option was to take the air conditioner out of my window and drop down into my room. When he came to put the window back in (he'd previously taken it out in order to put the a/c in) he said that he didn't believe me and accused me of having someone else come in through the window. He also accused me of giving him a counterfeit $20 with my rent payment, among other unusual things. One night he even came into our apartment late at night when my roommie was asleep and sat down at our kitchen table in the dark, making me very uncomfortable.
Last night it escalated when a couple of my friends were over (not a big party, just 3 friends talking and hanging out at a fairly reasonable hour). He calls me up and tells me that I need to find an other apartment and that I'm no longer allowed to have guests over period. That he doesn't like people being here and that he'd had complaints, etc. When I tried talking to him calmly about it he just got very angry and would not try to communicate with me in a reasonable way. My roommate also got notification from him of not being allowed to have guests.
During the phone call with him he said that I am not renting an apartment from him, that I am merely renting a room. During our initial communication, when he responded to my ad when I was looking for a place, he specified that it was indeed an apartment. I saved those emails. I also specified in my ad what my lifestyle is like, so it's not like he didn't know. I never hid anything. I was under the impression that I was renting an apartment and that he would just be a landlord and nothing more, that he would have no say in what I do in my home. There was absolutely never any discussion about rules that he had. He never told me that he had complaints until last night. He never talked to me to try to work things out or to let me know he or anyone else was being disturbed. I have never skipped out on rent, though was late by a few days on two occasions. I have always been super nice and friendly toward him and have tried to be as considerate as possible. Really, most of the time I totally keep to myself and prefer to be invisible. But he seems to just have it out for me. My roommate had never had an issue until now and she's lived here much longer than me.
I should also note that he blocked our main exit out of the house (said he was concerned about a lawsuit if someone hurt themselves on the steps), which is the safest fire exit. And until I said something about it, there were no smoke or gas alarms in the house. He did put one in, but in a very impractical place. So I've been concerned about that as well.
He hasn't given me a set date to leave. There have been no papers served. He said he'll wait for me to find a place, but I'm very concerned that he's going to really snap and do something crazy because he's shown big signs of not being mentally/emotionally stable. I'm very much intimidated by him. I don't know what he's capable of. I'm made to not feel safe in my own home that I'm paying rent for. So I'm not sure at all how to deal with this man. Any advice will be much appreciated.
*Note: I was also wondering if he has any legal right to tell me I can't smoke in my room.