For the past year I have been renting a small room as an art studio. It had no bathroom or kitchen, only a sink. I vacated the premises today (9 days before end of month) and the landlord is claiming that as a stipulation of my "lease" I had to give them at least 30 days notice and are now threatening to take me to small claims court. The rent was $350/month. This is after changing the lock and screwing the door shut today when I went to pick up my things. I called the police who told me I had the right to break in if need be, and ended up entering the room without having to actually break in. Can they take this to small claims court if the room isn't even legal to rent? Thanks!
But it might depend if the unit was legal or if you used it for residential purposes. You say "art studio" which can mean almost anything. Was there a shared bathroom or kitchen accessible from the hallway? If so, it might be considered a SRO (single room occupancy).
Go to the precinct and get a copy of the police report. Did the LL accept the keys when you left? That would be considered your giving up possession, and could be a waiver on the LL's part if he claimed lack of notice. While it appears what he did was an illegal lockout (if you still had legal possession), the police telling you it's OK to break in ... that could be dubious if the LL did have legal possession.
In general a tenant can leave whenever they wish; but the question is if you owe rent for the rest of the term.
As far as I know, you don't have to give 30 days notice, but questions of the unit's legality might be an issue. See viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13888 and see page 39 for units inside NYC.
In any case you have defenses if they take you to court. The obvious is that he locked you out. At this point you must start documenting everything ... photos, recordings, so on. Keep all papers including envelopes.
Anyone can take anyone to court. The question is can they win. I have a feeling he might be bluffing, but you can't count on that. We know Housing Court if backed up due to the pandemic, but we don't know about Small Claims Court.
If he does serve you with papers, I would consult an attorney. There's a lot of information you've left out here, so keep a record of what happens and when.
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