Hi all,
I'm new to the forum. Did an archive search but didn't find anything exactly the same as my situation.
I live in Brooklyn and re-signed a lease in September for an apartment I've lived in since September 2009, and have had relatively no problems with my landlord. She likes that my roommate and I are quiet when we're home. One of her "rules" (which was never put in writing) is that she has to approve visitors who stay for more than three days. However, both I and my roommate have had friends from out of town stay for a week or two without notifying her, she has had no problem with it and has seen them come and go. We've never come to blows over this.
My new boyfriend works late, and he'll come over after work (maybe once a week, probably less frequently) at around 2 AM; in the morning, I let him sleep in while I head off to my place of employment. By my roommate's account, he is not a disturbance because he is sleeping most of the time. He leaves quietly of his own accord, or if he doesn't have to work, he'll hang out in my apartment and wait for me to return.
My landlady is now threatening to evict because she says that I am currently violating her rules by allowing my boyfriend to sleep over. Her arbitrary rules for him (again, not in writing) are that he cannot come over before sunrise and that he must leave by midnight, and that he cannot be in the apartment when I'm not home. She also claims that he is a disturbance by coming over at 2 AM, even though he is very quiet when entering the apartment. (Full disclosure: twice he smoked in the apartment, which is not allowed per our lease; after a verbal warning, he never did it again. I think he made things worse by trying to apologize to her, which apparently didn't go well for him.)
Is she legally allowed to tell me that he can or can't come over? And can she evict me over this if he is not being a nuisance to the building? I think our landlord-tenant relationship has already soured over this, but as much as she doesn't like me breaking her rules, I don't like being treated like I'm in boarding school.