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Problems accessing the apartment

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Problems accessing the apartment

Postby br_nyc » Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:17 pm

My husband and I are renting a room in an apartment at a condo building in Harlem. We've being here since June/2014 without any issues. When we first arrived we had our pictures taken and IDs registered to the building security system. Last week as I was coming home from work and the doorman of the building did not allow me to enter the building unless the landlord was present. Fortunately my landlord was not far away. This has been going on since last week, so every time we go out and want to come in we have to see if the landlord is home or we have to wait until he comes home, or else the doorman won't let us in, even though we are registered in the security system. My landlord says he has tried to reach the building board, management and condo lawyer without success. And that he has no idea what the problem is. My question is can they legally not let us in the building to access our apartment?
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Re: Problems accessing the apartment

Postby TenantNet » Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:07 pm

From your description, it sounds that you are a roommate, i.e., you are renting a room. You are not the owner of the unit. When you speak of "your landlord," I'm assuming you mean the owner of the unit. In condos, the owner is actual owner of the four walls while in co-ops, the "owner" only holds shares in the corporation that actually owns the building.

So you would be the tenant of the unit's owner of you rented the entire apartment, or you would be a roommate, undertenant or occupant if you just occupy a room and others occupy other rooms in the unit.

With all that in mind, you need to find out what the condo's policies are. They might be in the legal documents of hte offering or the sale, or in house rules. (remember, we're a tenant site, not a condo web site). Your owner/landlord needs to find out the policies and why they are being enforced against you, and if they are being equally enforced against others in similar situations in the building.

Are you a member of a protected class? That would be race, gender, national origin, etc., that would be protected by state and federal housing discrimination laws? That could be part of all this.

ANd yes, your owner needs answers from the board. As far as I know, if you are legally in the unit, then they have no right to do this. But again, we're not experts in condo law and can't cite laws or cases that would apply.
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