Problem With RC Tenant
I own a house with a rent control tenant, yes I know, who thinks he can do whatever he wishes and does this…among other things! After discovering that he hands out, and has been handing out for years, front door keys to whomever he likes so he does not have to come down the one…
I own a house with a rent control tenant, yes I know, who thinks he can do whatever he wishes and does this…among other things! After discovering that he hands out, and has been handing out for years, front door keys to whomever he likes so he does not have to come down the one flight to let his people in. I changed the front door lock. You know, the lock with keys where you need a card that authorizes you to make a copy. I gave him two keys as required by law, thinking at least that not everyone had keys to my house. So now he puts one key in the mailbox and hands out copies of the mailbox key to who knows. After informing him about jeopardizing the security of the building, etc, etc, I was told “F†you! Not my problem! While I try to figure out how and who can help me get these people out of my house, can anyone suggest a way for me to short circuit this S.O.B. and protect my wife and kids and MY property from strangers in the hall.
Side note; Any housing lawyer recommendations would be appreciated as well. I have evidence, pictures and recordings as backup. Yes, its bad.
Thanks!
That’s really nuts, sam.
sam- that’s totally illegal! How could she have won?
I know someone who has a rent control tenant in his house.
The renter has a four-room unit. She sleeps in the “dining room” and rents out the bedroom to strangers. She pays $375 a month in rent and she rents the room out for $575 a month.
He took her to court. She got herself a free public-interest lawyer and won. It’s New York, it’s nuts.
The MY house thing is a bit annoying…speaking as a landlady.
Did OP say how many apartments are in the house? Does the tenant walk through OP’s living space (I’m confused, sam. Is that the case?)
While the courts will most likely say the tenant can have as many people coming through his space as he wants, I think it will be a different issue because of the fact the tenant keeps making and giving away keys to them. Judges won’t always be pro-tenant (I have a friend who was an rc tenant and went through this, and got evicted). Her landlord went to court to take over her apartment for himself and his family. Of course after she left he renovated the apartment and rerented it out. This was in Park Slope.
Rob is actually correct. Under NYC rent protection law, it is just s much his house as your house. In fact, owners come and go and tenants often stay. I think the courts will find that the renter has avery right to have anyone come into his apartment as he likes (as long as he does not deal in drugs or prostitution -good luck proving that even if true).
You should build partitions or interior stairs to make sure that anyone visiting him cannot walk into your rooms. If this is impossible, you’re stuck. The renter will always have the upper hand in the Brooklyn courts. In fact, if he wishes, he can still control the ownership of the apartment even after death by entering into a marriage of convenience or inviting a relative to move in.
rob, rob, rob (shaking my head in wonder). Speaking as a tenant I can tell you it is the OP’s house. This is not an apartment building- this is a home they bought- rc tenant or not. They live there, they pay for it and they have the right to security. They are also responsible for the security of their building so they in fact have to deal with the situation.
But its also a very complicated situation so to ask for input is not whining, its asking for help. YOu do this all the time- you’re doing it on the open thread about a gift for your grandmother.
You cannot just throw out a tenant- NYC is a tangled mess of laws especially in regards to rc tenants. This isn’t an issue of getting rid of an unpleasant person, this is an issue of keeping your family and your building safe and making sure you fulfill your responsibilities as a homeowner/landlord.
Yes I agree with PitbullNYC to a certain extent… it is your house however I know (being a landlord myself) that because of this tenant and the others.. you are enjoying a pretty decent financial benefit by owning this multiunit building…If you weren’t then you wouldn’t have done it so don’t forget about that. Although I haven’t experienced this situation as of yet i feel for you. Have you tried talking to the guy? You are gonna have to come to some sort of common ground in order for everyone to live in some sort of harmony. In the end as you have stated NYC is on his side…
will you please stop screaming “MY HOUSE” over and over with all of your posts? according to the laws that have been around, hello, for like ever, it’s not just YOUR house. you bought it knowing it was a RC building. deal with it. jeez. i do feel for you tho, it must be a terrible situation, but at the same time, youre acting like owning a rent controlled house in brooklyn is the same as owning a private estate in maine. hello, it’s not. apples and oranges. is he threatening? do you know anyone you can get to threaten him to get out? isnt that how it worked in the old days? just go that route. very simple and cheap. i feel like too many people are scardey cats these days to get tenants out and instead of dealing with the sitch hand-ons they instead whine about it on the internet.
*rob*