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My landlord is kicking us out and it's only been 5 months and we have a one year lease.
Anonymous5 views2 answers
My landlord doesn't want our rent money and is finding excuses to leave since we moved. She's Been harnessing us to leave and now she's calling my family members I used as references and old jobs and telling them to make me leave the house. She hasn't given us a letter from the court to leave so now that I'm thinking about it this might be an illegal basement. So I looked it up and this is what I found online "Complaint (violation ) RE; TWO FAMILY CONVERTED INTO THREE FAMLY , BSMNT CONVERTED WHICH INCLUES A BEDROOM KITCHEN LIVING ROOM BATHROOM AND IS BEING RENTED OUT.
category code: 45 ILLEGAL CONVERSATION: RESIDENTIAL SPACE . Does this mean it's illegal ? And if so it is what can I do so I don't get in trouble but only she does.
It appears that you are living in an illegal apartment. Under New York state law you have no obligation to pay your landlord any rent for that apartment. If your landlord sues you for nonpayment of rent you have a defense to any rent claim and the court should not allow the landlord to collect any rent from you. If your landlord tries to evict you by trying to terminate your lease the court should also not allow her to evict you until the end of your lease term.
You should, however, begin looking for a new apartment and move out as soon as possible. If the Department of Buildings or Department of Housing Preservation has placed a violation on the building for illegal occupancy it is more than likely that there are several dangerous elements in your apartment which could endanger the health and safety of you and your family. You should check the City's online records before renting any apartment in the future.
Dear Brooklyn Tenant:
I am sorry this happened to you and you are in this predicament. If you found this apartment with a licensed real estate broker, you may have a claim against the broker for your damages. If I had this case, I would sue for the rent you paid the landlord to live in an illegal apartment, the expenses you incurred to move into this apartment and the fees paid to the broker.
You properly looked up the information online, but it is not a secret in NYC, the nearly every basement apartment in a two family house is an illegal addition and the result of conversion of the legal home into an illegal and into an unregistered multiple dwelling. The City DOB has the right to demand assessment of a fine up to $25,000 for violation of use (illegal use based on the existing Certificate of Occupancy for a legal two family home), and another $25,000 fine for alteration and conversion with permits and approved plans. Your landlord is on the hook for these severe penalties. In your case, the violation existed likely before you became a tenant, and so, the City may have reason to come down hard on the landlord.
For you this means you will need to move. You do not need to honor the lease and pay rent since the landlord is barred from suing for nonpayment of rent in the NYC Housing Court, but if the landlord sues to evict since the use is not legal, a Housing Court judge will make you move. You do not want to be caught by the DOB actually living in the illegal apartment if a vacate order comes from any city office.
