what could happen if i don't pay last month's rent?

[jogirl3]

i live in a single -family home in nassau county. I have been evicted so that the landlord can rent out the home to new tenants for more money (that is the real reason, I found out, but the landlord had given me another reason). The landlord, and others, live in an illegal apartment downstairs now (not when I first moved in), even though I rented the whole house. The landlord has been conniving and troublesome since the beginning, and just got worse over time.
Anyway, electric, gas, water are all in the landlords's name. These bills are deducted from the rent, according to some random guesstimates by the landlord. The utilities and rent will be more than the security deposit. In fact, I will end up owing money. Since the utilities are not in my name and there is only one gas meter, should I pay these plus the rent or just give up the security deposit? Cable and phone are in my name.

[TenantNet]

Do/did you have a lease? Details?

What do you mean by "you've been evicted?" Are you still there? Is there a court proceeding?

How could the LL live in the basement if you rented the whole house?

[jogirl3]

i am a month-to-month tenant. The landlord slowly moved into the basement apartment after I moved in. The landlord and others are here full time now. When I mentioned it, the landlord said that if I did not like it I could move. I am living here for another week or so. I was given 30 days notice, via a note stuffed in the mailbox. There is no court order. The landlord said that I had to move so that the landlord could move in, because someone had complained to the town about an illegal apartment (not me). However, I think that that was a lie, because the landlord is planning on staying downstairs and re-renting the house to new tenants.

[TenantNet]

This appears to be a mess, and I suspect you're going along for the ride instead of making your own decisions. You rented a house and that means all four walls. The LL has breached that agreement. You might have cause to go after him for compensation.

But aside from that, I don't think a "note" stuffed in a mailbox constitutes legal notice. See the section on M2M tenants in the reference section. If you got the notice in the middle of June, then it wouldn't be effective until August 1. And the LL can't physically force you out without going to court.

Without getting into all the particulars, given that he's using the space you rented and probably will withhold the deposit, it might be wise to consider not paying anything more.

And you might want to alert the county that there's an illegal apartment on the premises.

[jogirl3]

It is quite a mess. There's even more going on. Thanks for your help. By the way, if the landlord tries to withhold (or lower) the security deposit, then I must receive an itemized list of how that money was spent, correct?

[jogirl3]

I forgot to mention that the "eviction" note was received in the middle of June, and I've been given one month - to the middle of July.

[dealing3000]

If you pay July 1st for the entire month then you have until the end of July, PERIOD. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

I sure hope you did not pay rent for July. Just tell the LL to use the security as the last month's rent.

If the LL tries to evict you it could easily take 2 or 3 months. They have to server you with papers and get a lawyer involved.