Lawyer to draft rental apt rider?

Look up HPD Local Law 69 re: ask incoming tenant if they have had bedbugs!. (I do this on the application form, not the rider.)

evainberg

in General Discussion 7 years and 11 months ago

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notfromny | 7 years and 11 months ago

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Looking for a reasonable and efficient lawyer for drawing up a rider to a standard lease for the rental apartment in the building we are about to own. My RE attorney doesn’t seem to want to take on this type of small gig, though she is terrific in every other way. Any suggestions from the crowd? Thanks in advance!

EJR | 7 years and 11 months ago

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Do you really need a lawyer for this? What do you hope to accomplish in this rider? Can you find sufficient sample language on the internet that serves your purposes? I think you’ll have a hard time finding someone to take this on as a stand-alone project? Do you have any family or friends that are lawyers of law students? Maybe they would help.

mozeeatupu | 7 years and 11 months ago

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What’s on the rider that a lease doesn’t cover?

evainberg | 7 years and 11 months ago

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I wrote my own in simple bullet points, to add requirement for tenant to hand-in proof of their own renter’s insurance including $XXXX damage to others within 30 days of start of lease, plus added a few house rules incl. separate trash & recycling, definitely NO access to the roof, and to ask that any tenant window A/C must be removed during the heating season and stored by tenant for the winter. I also made the newest version of the city’s annual Lead Paint and Window Guard waivers into attachments, to the Rider. Those were my particular concerns. Good luck with this.

mozeeatupu | 7 years and 11 months ago

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Don’t forget the bed bugs disclosure

resident2 | 7 years and 11 months ago

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No matter what you think you want in a rider; other than late charges, recycling, additional guests, subletting etc. as house rules. If you have a problem, landlord tenant court does not care what you have written and the tenant has agreed to. Landlord tenant law overrides anything that is written in a rider. So just write it yourself as house rules as a way of basic expectations. But do not think it is legally binding.
If the tenant does not respect the basic house rules, you do not renew the lease. That is the only power you have.
So do not offer two year leases, because you are stuck with them.
Screen your tenant before signing the lease and make it clear how you expect to live in your house, if they are not comfortable with your expectations… do not rent to them.
Riders are good to outline what a tenant can expect and how you expect them to relate to you. As a neighbor.
When I had tenants that lived in the same house as myself; I let them know that I preferred to be notified of maintenance issues by e-mail and as soon as the tenant became aware of the issue… not wait for a ceiling to fall down before you notified me that there was a “small drip” leak.
Or wait for me to come home after work and knock on my door.
It makes for better tenant relations if they know what to expect.

notfromny | 7 years and 11 months ago

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I guess I can do it myself! I had assumed it would need to be legal-esed, but if not, perfectly happy to save the $$ and the calling around.

EJR | 7 years and 11 months ago

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I can legal-ese it for you: “In addition to the terms set forth in the Agreement, and notwithstanding anything in the Agreement to the contrary, Tenant hereby agrees to [blah, blah, blah]…In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Rider and the terms of the Agreement, the terms of this Rider shall control.” That will be $1,000. PM me and I’ll give you the info on where you can mail the cashier’s check.