Questions About Subletting
Hello. I’ve been renting a rent-stabilized apartment in Brooklyn for about 14 years, but am now in China for the next year. I didn’t want to lose my apartment, so I arranged an informal sublet with the brother of a friend. I didn’t bother to tell my landlord because my apartment is well below market-rate…
Hello. I’ve been renting a rent-stabilized apartment in Brooklyn for about 14 years, but am now in China for the next year. I didn’t want to lose my apartment, so I arranged an informal sublet with the brother of a friend. I didn’t bother to tell my landlord because my apartment is well below market-rate and I was concerned that they’d probably look for a way to get me out if they knew. Nor did I check my lease for any sub-clause concerning this, as I felt it would be beside the point (for the above reason). The super is already coming around asking questions. No sublease was signed; what recourse do I have? Among other things, if I do make an official request to my landlord (clearly after the fact), could I say that I at first thought my trip would be temporary and that they were initially apartment-sitting, but that now work will require me to be away for a longer time and that my apartment-sitters will now be subletting from me instead? Or are there any other loopholes I can use here? Thanks…
pisses me off. rent control was designed to prevent people from being forced out of their neighborhoods. you are abusing it. I paid market rate 3000 a month for 3 years in manhattan, subsidising a 70 year old guy who had been in the building since the 1950s paying under 400. No problem with that. leave the guy alone.
But not you. you want to live this sweet international life and abuse the protection that was set up for that guy and others like him. give up your place.
“D’OH! i should have said NOTHING. a few more rounds of this, and the woman i was subletting from for 4 1/2 years got served a notice of eviction for not residing on the property”
You ratted. Snitch.
+1 vinca on the link you provided days ago above. Regarding the primary residence issue. Being away for a year would not jeopardize that.I think the LL would have to prove someplace else was the primary. At this point as long as the LL accepts rent checks the tenant is not in violation no matter what is going on in the apartment. I would simply suggest to OP to begin subletting discussions immediately based on the legally required information. Will it be easy? Probably not, but he has not lost his apartment yet.
It worked out fine. I sublet to a dude for the remainder of the year lease. He got the stinkeye from a couple of the neighbors but then moved at the end of the lease anyway. No harm no foul.
CG ups- by law your landlord cannot refuse you a reasonable sublet. You got screwed. Of course, what’s “reasonable?” And who gets to decide that? But still- they can’t refuse a reasonable sublet.
Hey, whoops! I didn’t realize. I was responding to “Wouldn’t the details about what is allowed or not regarding sublets be in the lease?”
CG: Especially since I’d already posted it above 😉
Finding this took all of three seconds:
http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/faq/subletting.html
MS: Sorry, but the details and consequences are so much more nuanced than you’re presenting, including OP’s need to prove (as a result of his/her own actions) that the apartment is his/her primary residence. CG_Ups: Many leases contain
no-sublet clauses. However, except in buildings of a certain size, those clauses are unenforceable under NYS law, whether or not you’ve signed the lease.
Lechacal: The argument that rent-regulated apartments increase the rents of market rate apartments/tenants is one of the biggest pieces of hooey in circulation. The economic downturn clearly demonstrates most LLs have the ability to adjust rent, including downward, to suit traffic. If your rent is high, it’s far more likely due to your willingness to pay and the LL’s willingness to charge, than it is due to fixed costs or reasonable profit margins. Not that it matters, but are there even any regulated tenants in your building?