My building has been sold and my landlord isn't offering a new lease...

Currently living in a walk up building in downtown Hoboken. My landlord called saying my building has been bought and they will not be offering a new lease. The building has been bought with the intention of gutting and renovating. I’ve heard countless stories of people getting paid to leave their rentals in similar situations. I’ve also been advised that for a landlord to refuse a lease renewal without court order, it is considered eviction. I’m unsure how to move forward and don’t know if I should refuse to leave until they pay me to. Also I’m unsure how to go about this without getting a lawyer involved. Any sort of input or guidance can help!

jenwood

in General Discussion 8 years and 5 months ago

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slopefarm | 8 years and 5 months ago

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Since you are living in Hoboken, you should be aware that, since this is a Brooklyn-based blog, any advice you get about what rights you might or might not have is based on commenters’ understanding of how things work in New York under New York law. NJ laws on tenants may apply differently.

That said, tenant buy-outs tend to occur where the LL is looking to have a tenant leave in the middle of the lease term or where the tenant has stronger rights to a lease renewal, such as under NYS rent control laws. If you really think there is more than a few thousand dollars of value to your claim, check it out with a (NJ) lawyer who knows this stuff, but otherwise dave’s point is a good one — the reference you need to get a new apartment is probably worth more than anything you could negotiate for monetarily here, particularly since the LL did not begin by offering anything,.

daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 5 months ago

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WOW. This is the sort of thing that gives tenants a bad name. No, the landlord is under no obligation to renew a lease. Sounds like he gave you notice. That may be unfortunate for you but you have to leave. If he wanted to break your lease then he might offer a payment. Do you think that you will need this landlord as a reference for any future apartment lease? If so, don’t expect it if you cause trouble.