Eviction
I’ve been living in my rental for over 20 years in a one-family (not rent-controlled or stabilized). The new owners are asking me to move so they can start their renovations and ultimately use the building as their home. I’ve contacted Legal Aid and various housing advocacy groups for advice. Are there any other tenants…
I’ve been living in my rental for over 20 years in a one-family (not rent-controlled or stabilized). The new owners are asking me to move so they can start their renovations and ultimately use the building as their home. I’ve contacted Legal Aid and various housing advocacy groups for advice. Are there any other tenants out there who have gone through this? What are my rights, if any? Can I reasonably ask for a buyout? I’ve been sincerely looking for a reasonable rental but there isn’t much out there. Any recommendations? This has been an awful time even though my new landlords are trying to work with me.
Absolutely do not go to housing court. I can almost guarantee that if you are evicted it will severely hamper your ability to get a lease in the future.
Your landlords sound like reasonable people; in theory they could have just slipped a note under your door telling you to get out, with the threat of a court order to follow. That’s what happens in the rest of the country.
I looked at Craigs List and rents are a few hundred bucks higher per month in Bay Ridge for a prewar studio than they were when I rented one 5 years ago. It defies logic completely that fewer people will be buying apartments AND rents will go down too. If fewer people are buying that means higher demand for rentals.
Frederick,
I admit my ballpark estimates of recent rent reductions are just that — ballpark estimates based on current personal experience as a landlord as well as personal discussions with other much bigger landlords and representatives of large NYC property management companies.
All you have to do, if you don’t believe me, is go to Craigslist and look for apartments in your own neighborhood, where presumably you know the market best, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
The tens of thousands of folks who’ve been laid off on Wall Street have had an enormous immediate impact on the NYC rental market. Not to mention, so many fewer people are moving here from other parts of the country to start new jobs.
I’m no economist, and I don’t have a thorough study to back up my claims, but I can clearly see what’s going on. As a landlord with properties in one of NYC’s most desirable neighborhoods, I’m afraid that things will only get worse next year.
Folks with rentals in fringe neighborhoods may be lucky to even cover their costs, much less make a profit.
Anyone who tells you that the process is “simple” is an attorney who makes their living in landlord-tenant court. What smeyer418 writes about the process is basically correct (note the “almost always”), except that you will not find it simple. You will find yourself in court every month or nearly every month of the process, and you will find it both time-consuming and draining. The only way it will continue as long as smeyer418 suggests is if you hire one of the Smith St. shysters who uses adjournment for no other purpose than gameplaying and jockeying between the 20 other cases he has in every other courtroom of the building. In the end—if you have no lease, or your lease is expired—you will absolutely have to move, and any goodwill that may once have existed between you and your landlord will have long ago evaporated. As I and others have suggested, try finding a workable solution with your new landlord before going the Housing Court route.
The way this works is actually pretty simple. A tenant in a two family house is a tenant at will. If you have a lease that is what governs. If you have no lease you are a month to month tenant. If you have a lease at the end of term you become a hold over tenant, if your lease isn’t renewed. the landlord will serve on you a hold over notice and a 5 day notice. If you a month to month tenant he needs to give you at least 30 days notice and then you also become a holdover tenant after that. In no case however in NY City may the landlord evict you without going to court and getting a court order. When you go to court almost always the court will give you time to look for an apartment and order you to pay rent. the process normally takes anywhere from 9-12 months if not longer….
I agree about all of the stuff that people who own the building have the right to live in it if they choose, etc.
However, you should check your lease(s). Some leases from the time when NYC was not a desirable address included a provision that gave the tenant the right to renew on a yearly or biannual basis sort of like a rent-stabilized lease.
If your leases had any language like that, then it could be enforceable against current owners. At least, it would give you some bargaining power for a buyout b/c the current owners got a discount.
One other thing to consider; if you plan to proceed with a drawn out court process, your name will be permanently on file as part of a court ordered eviction. Needless to say, this will not be looked upon favorably by your next landlord.
It’s one of the bad things about renting, you do not OWN the place you live in, and are therfore subject to the owner’s wishes in the end. Think about it this way, you had a good run, time to look for another nice place with the rental choices better than ever for a good tenant, in this economic climate.
IronBalls, I’ve seen several comments by you to the effect of rents sliding 25% and more. Just curious where you get these figures. I have tenants, and I keep an eye on listings to gauge the market, but I’m not seeing rental prices dropping at all. Is it that landlords are paying broker fees, or what are you seeing to support your claims?
This happened to me years ago in the Slope–lived in a private, two-unit brownstone. Problem wasn’t that the landlord wanted it for himself, but wanted to double the rent. We were told that it was a private house, and that we had no rights. Super bummer.