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February 22, 2007
Landlord won't renew lease
Me and my significant other have been the ideal tenants for the past year. We always pay the rent on time and only contact our landlord when the heat isn't on and it's freezing cold outside. Our lease is up at the end of March and we want to renew it. We received a letter from our landlord saying she is not interested in renewing the lease with us. When we called to ask why, she refused to discuss it. Now we have 30 days to find a new place. Is this legal?
Comments
It is legal. You entered into an agreement for some specific period of time and, unless there is a provision in that contract that provides for a right of renewal, every party to the contract starts over at square one with no obligation to the other as soon as that period ends. Your landlord is not required to renew or explain why he or she is choosing not to renew even though you have been an ideal tenant.
Posted by: anon at February 22, 2007 5:09 PM
Does the landlord need to give us any notice or is at their discretion?
Posted by: LL at February 22, 2007 5:15 PM
you're asking the wrong people...this bunch is likely to tell your landlord to evict you if you're not out in 30 day....lol
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 5:17 PM
it is very legal but triple check your lease maybe the landlord defaulted by not giving you 90 days written notice.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 5:17 PM
Not sure how the laws have changed.
But it could depend on how
many units are in the building.
Over 5? or is it over 6? I forget.
If over 5 or 6 -- it is certainly worth
taking a closer look.
Under certain circumstances -- simply
paying rent constitutes a lease.
Under rent stabilized apartments, for example.
Keep the canceled checks!
But then again, the laws protecting tenants
have been under a constant state of erosion.
Good luck.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 5:17 PM
Unfortunately, it sounds like your landlord is getting advice from people posting here, I think the advice to send the letter was in a thread a few weeks ago.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 6:09 PM
Unfortunately, it sounds like your landlord is getting advice from people posting here, I think the advice to send the letter was in a thread a few weeks ago.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 6:09 PM
This happened to us twice in a row in Park Slope. In one case the owners were divorcing and selling the house and the next time the owners relocated and wanted their apartment back. It sucks but it is legal. I understand this happens a lot when you are renting in an owner occupied house. Depending on their reasons for not renewing, they might be agreeable to allowing you to extend for a month or two to give you more time. It never hurts to ask.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 6:20 PM
First read your lease and find out what the renewal/termination terms are.
Second, if the terms allow the landlord not to renew the lease (which is most likely the case), then find out if the law protects you. You may have certain rights.
Check out the nyc,gov web site. There may be some tenant advocacy groups that can advise you of your rights. Otherwise, talk to a lawyer.
Anon 5:17 makes a good point that rent stabilization laws have been significantly eroded in the past 10 years.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 6:26 PM
Another bitter renter that was priced out.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 6:29 PM
There is no obligation to renew a lease. Why would you even ask for a reason. You are just a tenant.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 8:14 PM
But the reality is that you have the right to legal process. So if you don't move out, they can't just change the locks, they have to serve you with papers seeking to evict you as a holdover tenant. In the end, assuming you are not a rent stabilized tenant, you would lose and a judge would give the landlord the right to evict you through a marshall. Of course, being a party in a housing court matter is now used by some landlords as a reason not to rent to you, so you probably want to avoid that. A good lawyer would advise a landlord to begin the eviction process the day you overstayed last year's lease. So you have to weigh that out. Bummer.
Posted by: Putnam-denizen at February 22, 2007 11:05 PM
Generally, in NY the landlord has to give you 30 days notice.
At the end of the lease, they can definitely kick you out.
Or alternately, they can offer you a new lease with whatever rent increase they feel like and there's nothing you can do about it other than move out or agree to the higher rent.
Either way, they own the house and you don't.
In the future, if you want to stay in an apartment longer, negotiate a longer lease.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 11:12 PM
I think Putnam Denizen's advice is horrible.
You have the right to legal process, but they also have the right to raise the rent to $10,000 per month if they want. And they also have the right to legal process to collect any unpaid rent if you don't vacate.
Be smart and don't screw up your rental history and your credit over an apartment. Most landlords do a background check to see if you have any eviction history and many (most?) won't rent to you if you do.
An apartment you've been in for only 1 year isn't worth the damage to your rental history.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 11:28 PM
Oops sorry Putnam Denizen - I only skimmed your comment and didn't read the whole thing.
Apologies.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 22, 2007 11:33 PM
Maybe you do not understand how renting works. Your landlord owns the building. Their only obligations are specified in the lease. When the lease expires, they have no further obligation to you. You are a tenant. Your only rights are specified in the lease. When the lease expires, you become a month to month tenant and are subject to eviction. Don't like the law? Buy your own house. You have the flexibility to move whenever you want, you don't pay property taxes, you don't pay for the heat and maintenance. Is it unfair? I guess it depends.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 23, 2007 7:42 AM
go to tenant net for advice..folks here are not tenant oriented..
Posted by: Anonymous at February 23, 2007 9:06 AM
Exactly. The level of arrogance is incredible. Whatever happened to old-fashioned treating your fellow humans right? Even in business transactions, you need to treat people courteously. I am a landlord and I would never treat a good tenant this way, assuming the facts are as stated.
That said, unfortunately the advice given is correct.
Posted by: anon at February 23, 2007 10:56 AM
I guess the truth hurts.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 23, 2007 11:29 AM
I have to agree with 10:56 i am a landlord too and while i don't think you have much recourse i think its a pretty nasty thing to do to a good tenant. You should at least try to call them up and ask for an extra 30 days for you to find a new place. Maybe in the future make sure that any lease you sign includes a larger time frame for notice to leave (like 60 days instead of the usual 30). Sorry.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 23, 2007 12:29 PM
Why is it so arrogant to communicate in writing and not to want to discuss reasons? That seems to be a huge overreaction by people who don't know the specific facts.
Posted by: Anon at February 23, 2007 12:44 PM
The landlord may be expanding his family.... May even have a distant cousin that needs the house.... or may be even selling the home....
The bottom line is, you enter into a '1 year lease' for a given purpose. You want access to an apartment and all that comes with that apartment for a year. A landlord agrees to those terms. While being a good tenant is a great thing, it has no bearing on the legality of the landlords decision not to renew.
and no, it doesn't suck. It's exactly as it should be. Just like on the flip side. If as a tenant you decide you want to leave after a year, should the landlord be able to force me to continue to pay rent at his place for another year? absolutely not!
Posted by: NewStoner at February 23, 2007 1:38 PM
It's not a question of forcing anyone, read the posts above. No one is disputing the legality, or the right, of the landlord to not renew.
It's called common courtesy. Picking up the phone and explaining to a good tenant why the lease cannot be renewed is a normal business call, but apparently not in the view of the posters here. OP, you can be lucky you're not a tenant of these people. These type of landlords are exactly the people who get "bad" tenants and then whine about how they've being screwed.
Posted by: anon 10:56 at February 23, 2007 1:55 PM
Anon 1:55,
Being an "IDEAL" tenant is very very 'RELATIVE' and subjective. Maybe the landlord doesn't think they are such good tenants after all.... And chooses not to make up some excuse as to why they are not renewing the lease. Maybe the landlord doesn't like the smell that comes from the rented apartment. Or the strange sounds.... or their choice of clothes...
The point remains, the landlord has no obligation to share WHY they choose not to renew the lease.
Posted by: NewStoner at February 23, 2007 2:27 PM
anon 10:56 "It's called common courtesy"
No It's called business and maybe it's none of the tenant's damn business why they need their space back. Dont expect courtesy when you were not courteous enough to tell him or her your plans of staying another year.
Next remember the lease is for both parties.Be proactive and approach your landlord 2 months prior to the end of the lease and ask him or her thier plans I'm sure he would of warned you.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 23, 2007 3:04 PM
*time
Posted by: Anonymous at February 23, 2007 3:06 PM
read your lease. it's that simple.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 23, 2007 3:14 PM
I have been a renter in the city for over 25 years in over 10 different apartments in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Finding decent housing took precedent over career goals and the cycle of trying to achieve a balance of sanity and trying to establish and maintain a decent quality of life has taken it's toll and I decided a few months ago to live elsewhere for a better quality of life for less, both financially and emotionally. The rent laws in the city are archaic and I believe that as long as they are kept in place they only sustain an inequity that breeds this struggle between the lucky and the haves and haves less. At the end of the day a contract is a contract and the terms agreed to by both parties and the terms are usually very clear. To expect "common courtesy" between landlords and renters is a tall order in this environment. Civility has been eroded by unfair laws and an environment that fosters greed and no accountability. My lesson: if you don't like the game, stop playing and move on. It's a big world and there are better places to live and be healthy, courteous, and accountable for one's actions. The fact that people need to get answers about a contract they have entered into from a website forum is a glaring example of what I am referring to.
Posted by: Tomis at February 25, 2007 10:05 AM
Tomis - you provide an interesting counter-point to the "love it or leave it" approach of some ("hated it, left it"?). I don't agree, however, that the original poster said anything that can lead us to conclude that there was any absence of common courtesy here. Also, being a renter does not necessarily make anyone a "have not" nor does owning a brownstone necessarily make one a "have." This is all too simplistic and unrealistic.
Posted by: anon at February 26, 2007 10:13 AM
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