TenantNet Forum

Where tenants can seek help and help others



How Much Rent Should I be Paying My Landlord / Roommate ?

Moderator: TenantNet

How Much Rent Should I be Paying My Landlord / Roommate ?

Postby TheAlbinoAubergine » Mon May 29, 2017 1:47 am

I read over the Forum Guidelines but I’m not entirely sure which forum I should be posting to so I decided to post here; i.e. :

NYC General Discussion.

I’ve tried to make this post easy to read but I’m not entirely sure what information is relevant so my post may be longer than it should be.

I apologize for that.

I live on 14th street in Manhattan.

I am sharing with another person who owns the apartment.

The building is fairly old. It was renovated in the late 70’s or early 80’s but it was probably built before the 1st World War.

The building has 6 floors and there are 5 apartments on each floor so there are about 30 apartments in the building.

I think this building is a “Co-Op”. My Landlord / Roommate claims there is a “Co-Op” board, he owns the apartment I am sharing with him and he pays monthly maintenance fees.

I am, in effect, his tenant.

There is no lease.

My Landlord / Roommate makes me move out for 24 hours at the end of each month in order to ensure I “Have no rights”.

Sometimes I have been continuously living in the apartment for a few days longer than 31 days.

This is a 1-bedroom apartment.

I have the bedroom and my Landlord / Roommate has the living room.

It is a railroad apartment with my bedroom at the end of the railroad.

The living room, excluding the kitchen & bathroom area, which my Landlord / Roommate is using is 2 to 3 times larger than the bedroom.

I moved in during April of 2015 so I’ve been living here for just over 2 years.

When I moved in I was paying $500 a month in rent.

About a month later my Landlord / Roommate raised the rent to $600 a month.

Last year he raised the rent to $625 a month.

He just talked to me and informed me that he will be raising the rent by about $150 a month.

He usually informs me a day or 2 before the end of the month and insists I pay the new rent at the beginning of the next month. He doesn’t give me any real notice of a rent increase.

I just found out from him that the maintenance fee he has been paying to the Co-Op Board was less than $950 a month.

He also says that the ConEd bill is about $100 a month.

This means that I have been paying about 70 % of the rental costs of this apartment. That seems to me to be both unfair and too high.

He says the Co-Op Board just raised his monthly maintenance to “About $1,250” but he can’t remember the exact amount and he says he will get back to me on that.

If I’m going to be paying $800 a month this seems too high given that the Monthly Maintenance and ConEd bill are about$1,300 or so a month.

My Landlord / Roommate insists that I pay him in cash but he does give me receipts for my monthly rent payments. We get them notarized.

I pay my rent promptly sometimes just before the end of the month, or on the 1st of the month or sometimes a day or so later than the 1st of the month. I have never been in arrears on the rent.

My roommate / landlord is ALWAYS late in getting me receipts. The last time he was 4 months late in getting me receipts for the rent.

I don’t have exclusive use of the bedroom.

There are 11 bureaus in my bedroom. My Landlord / Roommate is using 7 of them. I am using 2 of them and we are sharing 2. He has about half a dozen or so boxes of his stuff in my bedroom.

There are 3 closets in the apartment, 1 of which is in my bedroom. My Landlord / Roommate is using all the closets in the apartment. I got fed up so we are now sharing the closet in the bedroom and he is also using the other 2 closets.

When my Landlord /Roommate makes me move out for 24 hours at more or less the end of each month he uses that time to snoop around in my room. He makes up excuses such doing unnecessary repairs or painting in order to do so. I never asked him to paint my room or do these repairs.

Here are my questions :

1. Can he arbitrarily raise my rent by any amount at all or are there regulations regarding how much rent he can charge me ?

2. Does he have to give me any notice of when he is going to raise my rent or can he do it at any time whatsoever ?

3. Does making me move out for a 24-hour period at the end of each month deprive me of rights I might otherwise have as a tenant ? Does the fact that there have been periods when I have been living in the apartment for more than 31 days give me rights as a tenant that I might not otherwise have ?

4. Does the fact that I have been living in the apartment for more than 2 years give me any rights as a tenant ?

5. Can he just arbitrarily tell me to move out at any time or does he have to give me notice ? If he has to give me notice then how much notice does he have to give me ? I am very concerned about this as rent in New York is expensive, it is hard to find affordable places to live and, at the moment, although I have savings, I have no income.

5. That the part of the apartment my Landlord / Roommate is using for himself is at least 2 times larger than my bedroom have any bearing on the amount of rent I should be paying ?

6. That my Landlord / Roommate is storing a lot of stuff in my bedroom have any bearing on the rent I am paying ?

7. Can I ask him to move his stuff out of my bedroom ? He could easily reorganize his area in the living room to store all the stuff he’s got in my bedroom with little or no loss of usable space.

8. Does he have the right to snoop around in my bedroom even though he is using the excuse of doing unnecessary repairs and painting ?

Those are my questions. I do apologize for the length of this posting but I’m not exactly sure which details are relevant and which aren’t.

All the best & thank you for all your help … Joey
TheAlbinoAubergine
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Astoria, Queens

Re: How Much Rent Should I be Paying My Landlord / Roommate

Postby TenantNet » Mon May 29, 2017 4:11 am

We just sent you an email because your attempt to register a second account failed. This is your primary account. But like the last time you posted, you made it into a book. This forum is not good for books. Take about 80% of your post out. Most questions can be expressed in 1-2 paragraphs. Otherwise you're wasting our time.
The Tenant Network(tm) for Residential Tenants
Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
activists and is not considered legal advice.

Subscribe to our Twitter Feed @TenantNet
TenantNet
 
Posts: 10299
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2002 2:01 am
Location: New York City

Re: How Much Rent Should I be Paying My Landlord / Roommate

Postby TheAlbinoAubergine » Mon May 29, 2017 5:53 pm

My post is now 389 words instead of 1,137. I hope this is OK.

I share a 1-bedroom apartment on 14th street in Manhattan with the owner. I think the building was built before World War 1 & has 30 apartments. It is a “Co-Op”. There is no lease.

My roommate makes me move out for 24 hours at the end of each month to ensure I “Have no rights”.

His living space is 2 to 3 times bigger than mine.

I moved in during April of 2015 and paid $500 a month. A month later he raised the rent to $600. Last year he raised it to $625. He just told me he wants to raise it to $800.

He usually tells me a day or 2 before the end of the month and insists I pay the new rent at the beginning of the next month.

His share of the expenses is about $1,000. He says his Co-OP maintenance was just raised to “About $1,250”.

Me paying $800 of $1,350 seems too high.

He has a lot of stuff in my bedroom.

Here are my questions :

1. Can he raise my rent by any amount or are there regulations regarding the rent I pay ?

2. Does he have to give me notice of when he is going to raise my rent or can he do it at any time ?

3. Does making me move out for 24 hours each month deprive me of rights I might otherwise have ? Sometimes I’m there for more than 31 days. Does that give me rights that I might not otherwise have ?

4. Does living in the apartment for more than 2 years give me any additional rights ?

5. Can he tell me to move out at any time or does he have to give me notice ? How much notice does he have to give ?

6. He is using more than twice as much space as I does have any bearing on the amount of rent I should be paying ?

7. Can I ask him to move his stuff out of my bedroom ?

8. Can he snoop around in my bedroom because he is using the excuse of doing unnecessary repairs and unsolicited painting ?

Thank you for your help … Joey
TheAlbinoAubergine
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Astoria, Queens

Re: How Much Rent Should I be Paying My Landlord / Roommate

Postby TenantNet » Mon May 29, 2017 8:46 pm

That's better.

You should ascertain if the building is indeed a coop. Check the NYC Dept. of Finance database here: http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/CP/

Also check the HPD status here: https://hpdonline.hpdnyc.org/HPDonline/ ... dress.aspx

It sounds as if you are a roommate (not a sublet) as you rent a room in the apartment and presumably share bathroom and kitchen. The tenant in this case is your landlord and he is constrained by any law requiring the LL to do things in certain ways.

The tenant is just being stupid if he's forcing you to "vacate" every 30 days. Any court would see through this scam if you leave for 24 hours and then move back in. Does he force you to move all you possessions?

But I do not think you could get a lease like, for example, SRO tenants might if they stay in a place for 30+ days. This sounds like it might have some grey areas, so I can't say definitively what rights you might accrue. At a minimum, you won't get rent stab rights, but the tenant cannot force you out without a court order. I would refuse to vacate every 30 days. Just stay put.

Still, you might consider asking for a lease in writing. Make copies, send to the tenant by cert mail RRR.

If the tenant is not rent stab, then the inequities with the rent and the space do not matter. Any increase in rent has to be done with 30 day's written notice to be effective on the first rent payment date 30 days past the notice. If he gave you written notice today (March 29), it would not be effective until July 1.

I would take a look at this page:
http://nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/ ... mate.shtml
The Tenant Network(tm) for Residential Tenants
Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
activists and is not considered legal advice.

Subscribe to our Twitter Feed @TenantNet
TenantNet
 
Posts: 10299
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2002 2:01 am
Location: New York City

Re: How Much Rent Should I be Paying My Landlord / Roommate

Postby TheAlbinoAubergine » Mon Jun 19, 2017 4:04 am

Thank you for your rapid reply. You are extremely informative and helpful. I apologize for taking so long to reply.

I try to be brief but there are a lot of separate issues.

This post has the form :

• Issue
• Question

I can break this post down into smaller posts, each dealing with a single topic if you prefer.

I accessed the URL :

http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/CP/

I can’t figure out how to find out if my building is a co-op or not. I know the address but I don’t know how to use it.

I tried :

Search Property Records

And selected :

Parcel Identifier (Borough, Block, Lot)

I know the “Borough/County” but I don’t know what the “Block” & “Lot” numbers are.

Do you have any suggestions ?

If I try :

Find Addresses and Parcels

I know the :

• Borough/County
• Street Number
• Street name
• Unit (presumably the apartment No.)

When I enter this information and select :

Find BBL

This returns :

’14 STREET’ NOT RECOGNIZED.
THERE ARE 010 SIMILAR NAMES.

What am I doing wrong ?

I don’t know what “HPD status” is but I accessed the URL :

https://hpdonline.hpdnyc.org/HPDonline/ ... dress.aspx

This returns :

Bad Request

If I try :

https://hpdonline.hpdnyc.org/HPDonline/address.aspx

It returns :

Server Error in '/HpdOnline' Application.

The resource cannot be found.
Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly.

Requested URL: /HPDonline/address.aspx

Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.0.30319.34209

Clearly, I’m not doing this properly.

Can you tell me what is wrong ?

I can send you the street address and the apartment number. Perhaps you could find out whether my building is a co-op or not.

I rent a room from my roommate/landlord and we share the bathroom and kitchen.

You asked :

Does he force you to move all you possessions?‬

No. He forces me to leave the apartment for a minimum of 24 hours around the end of each month.

My roommate/landlord owns the apartment where I’m renting a room.

Your state my roommate/landlord can raise the rent to anything he wants BUT he must give me 30 days WRITTEN notice. He gave me VERBAL notice a couple of days before the end of May. This means he can’t raise my rent for June or July.

Is that correct ?

On Monday the 12th of June, he again VERBALLY informed me he was going to raise my rent from $625 to $800 as of August 1st. He did NOT give me WRITTEN notice. Therefore he cannot raise my rent for August either.

Is that correct ?

I accessed the URL :

http://nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/roommate.shtml

It is extremely informative. Thank you.

My roommate/landlord owns the apartment. Therefore he is my landlord.

Does this affect a “Roommate Holdover Case” ?

I’ve been in the apartment since April of 2015.

I pay my roommate/landlord cash every month. He gives me a notarized receipt, which he forces me to sign and agree to move out of the apartment on a certain date.

The dates on the receipts are baloney. He is often up to 4 months behind.

Sometimes, I’ve been continuously in the apartment for significantly longer than 30 days.

Here’s a sample of the receipts he’s forcing me to sign :

September 23, 2015,

I, <roommate/landlord name>, received $602 from <My Name> for rent covering September 13 to October 4, 2015. <My Name> agrees to vacate my apartment no later than 5 PM on Sunday, October 4, 2015

Signed,

–––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––
<roommate/landlord name> AND <My Name>

This is signed and stamped by a Notary.

Why am I being forced to sign my own rent receipt ?

Why am I being forced to agree to move out in order to get a receipt for the rent I am paying ?

This month, on the basis of the your helpful information & advice, I told my roommate/landlord I will no longer sign his receipts. I will pay him cash for this month’s rent but I insist on receiving a signed and notarized receipt before giving him cash.

Here is the receipt I insist on receiving :

Saturday, June 17th, 2017.

I, <roommate/landlord name>, of :

Apartment nn,
nnn East nn Street,
Manhattan,
New York, New York,
<Zip Code>.

Have received the sum of $625.00 on this 17th day of June, 2017, from <My Name> this sum being the whole of the rent for the month of June, 2017.


Signed, this 17th day of June, 2017 by



__________________________________________________,

<roommate/landlord name>

When I told him that I would no longer sign & accept his receipts and I want the signed & notarized rent receipt shown above, he hit the roof.

He insists I leave at the end of this month.

He also refuses to accept the rent UNLESS I sign his ridiculous receipt in which I also agree to move out at the end of the month.

I have been living & paying rent in this apartment for over 2 years.

On the civil side is this not harassment ?

On the criminal side could this not be deemed extortion ?

Can he do that ?

Can I just be summarily tossed out on the street ?

Don’t I have rights as a tenant ?

How quickly can he force me out of this apartment ?

I’m looking for another place to live. Because I don’t have an income this is harder than if I had a regular job. I have some savings.

I want to avoid being I forced to leave this apartment before I’ve found another place to live. I don’t want to become homeless while searching for a place to live.

I am 63 years old. I wonder if my age has any bearing on my current situation.

I realize this is a very long post and you prefer them short. As I said above, I can break this post into several shorter posts, each covering a single topic.

Finally I really do appreciate all your help.
TheAlbinoAubergine
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Astoria, Queens


Return to NYS General Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests