Evicting a Squatter?

“The guy has a lease …” “C of O shows an office with cellar storage below it.” Does the guy’s lease indicate that it’s an office with cellar storage? If so, then you start the process of evicting a commercial tenant for for non-payment of rent (and possibly for violating terms of a lease for office space if use as a residence is prohibited). This would be a business case not a residential landlord/tenant case.

bk1lnite

in Lawyers and legal service 11 years and 10 months ago

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ejalbk | 11 years and 10 months ago

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I’m a member of a partnership that purchased a six-family building (in Harlem) a few months ago which has a duplex that goes into the basement. The duplex is listed as an office with storage space in the cellar. When we bought it there was a tenant who had been living in there for a year already. The owner told us the guy was “cool with it”. He knew it wasn’t a legitimate apartment but there were no problems we were told. I was very uneasy with the situation but was overruled by my partners. Well turns out they should have listened to me. Apparently the tenant stopped paying rent a few months before the guy sold the building to us (and he has not paid us either claiming it’s an illegal space so he shouldn’t have to). We offered the guy a few thousand dollars to move out but he refused and won’t even talk with us. At this point we feel we have no choice but to take him to court. So, a few questions come to mind. How do the courts handle situations like this? We fully expect to get fined, but we’ll chalk that up to tuition. We don’t know if the fine will come from the Department of Buildings or Housing Court (or both) and we don’t know how big of a fine to expect. Also,  will the courts evict a tenant who is squatting, but squatting in an illegal space? Seems like sort of a Catch-22\. The attorney who handled the closing for us told us he doesn’t do landlord-tenant work so we also need a recommendation for an experienced attorney, but this gets us back to where the inevitable fine(s) will come from. Do we need one attorney for the eviction and another to handle the Department of Buildings possible fine or should one attorney be able to handle the whole thing? Anyone else on the forum been through something like this before?

mozeeatupu | 11 years and 10 months ago

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One thing at a time.  First get a lawyer who works with owners.  Get the eviction going.  The eviction is more important than fines, which aren’t a sure thing.

Augustiner | 11 years and 10 months ago

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I don’t know anything about these DOB fines, but also that sounds like a legal issue. You shouldn’t have to pay a fine for a situation you did not create, do not benefit from, do not tolerate and that you were not aware of at purchase. You forgot to mention if the tenant has a lease or some written contract that indicates that he is paying rent for the cellar. If that’s not the case why would you have to pay a fine? In my case the court took 9 months to dismiss an absolutely meritless dispute with a squatter. I should add that he claimed that he owned the house. It was fun. It showed me that the legal system creates excellent conditions for small time criminals. Because it is a better deal to pay a cheap lawyer just to delay things than to pay rent somewhere else. Be aware of that and put it into your calculation. So there are 3 solutions – buy him out – start renovating and ignore him (if you are an SRO, do not do that) – create structural issues or other unsafe conditions that force him to vacate immediately (juuust kidding) – go to court and be prepared to wait It is a good idea though to have your legal situation professionally assessed by a lawyer.

Townie | 11 years and 10 months ago

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“The duplex is listed as” >>>Does the building have a C of O showing a ground floor office space?   In the old days you would hire a couple of retired cops to make a visit and find out what his intentions are.  Chances are this guy might have some open warrants or overdue library fines that need to be rectified.

cupolacoffee | 11 years and 10 months ago

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The best piece of advice you got so far is to find an attorney who knows landlord-tenant law and represents landlords. From what you write, this is a civil court case and can’t be heard in housing court. Your lawyer will explain why. If you follow advice about buyouts or “the old days”, you’ll be just as stupid as your partners who told you not to worry. No lock-outs, no buyouts, no harassment–just find yourself a LL attorney.

arch007 | 11 years and 10 months ago

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a bursting pipe could motivate someone to leave a free housing facility. http://expediter-nyc.com

Putnamdenizen | 11 years and 10 months ago

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Because housing court refuses to hear landlord-tenant matters involving illegal apartments.  Get a lawyer. (You know that, I know…)