I am one of three tenants in separate apartments whom are renting on a month-to-month basis (no written lease) in a building who's multiple owners are are having a rent dispute (who gets the rent from the tenants). The original landlord who is normally contacted for apartment issues and paid rent from all three apartments and who is also the original owner of the building (before others were brought in) recently contacted all the tenants and notified them to no longer send the rent checks to the business below the apartments, and to instead send them to his personal PO. Box for which he gave the address to.
Everything was fine up until about a week after the rent was due... Today I found out that ALL three tenants in the building were given a single sheet of paper which stated the following:
"JOHN DOE AND MARY ROE
Intending to name all tenants and occupants of **************
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that ********, LLC, owner and landlord, hereby provide you with notice that you are required to vacate the premises on or before September 30, 2012.
********, LLC By: *Signature*, Member
*Lawyer contact info*"
When the landlord was contacted by phone, he stated that he did not issue these notices and that his father who is a co-owner of the building and business below issued them. It is important to note that the person who issued the letters is and has never been contacted for apartment issues or paid rent directly and that all rent checks previously sent had the name of the original landlord as the pay to.
The lawyer information printed on the bottom left of the notice is the lawyer for his father (the co-owner) who issued the letters. The letters were NOT mailed to the tenants but were handed out, I actually got mine from one of the other tenants!
The original landlord when notified about these letters was verbally angry about the situation and stated that he had also been notified by the two other tenants who had just received these notices (both of which had recently moved in and only lived there for less than a month!) and that he would take care of it and told us (and the other tenants) that his father is just "pissed off" and to "ignore it for the time being".
I have NOT been issued a formal eviction notice and as far as I know the co-owner who issued this letter has not gone to court to formally evict anyone at this time and has only given notice to vacate.
Now I pay my rent on time, and have been doing so for the nine years I have lived in this apartment, there have been ZERO complaints about me to my knowledge and I have recently renovated and made improvements on it out of my own pocket and I would very much like to keep living here.
I cannot for the life of me find ANY information regarding eviction due to a dispute between multiple building owners and I am not aware of my legal rights to have this eviction contested should I refuse to leave by the above date.
Any information about my legal rights is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!