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Posted by John F. on February 17, 2002 at 05:40:14:

In Reply to: No Copy of the Lease - Grounds for Termination? posted by Jeremy on February 14, 2002 at 23:39:58:

Are you in a rent stabilized unit? Presumably people who are not rent stabilized should receive their copy as soon as they sign, as there would be no reason for the LL not to give a copy right away?

Unlikely to be grounds for termination, but the faq must be quoting the housing laws, so you could write and ask the LL for your copy as required by the regulations. If he still did not you could go to the housing court and ask them how to go about having the regulation enforced.

This seems to come up as a problem very often, there must be some significant reason why LL's are so often so reluctant to give the tenant a copy of the lease. Perhaps they feel a tenant is less likely to stand up for his rights if he does not have any documentation?

Isn't it the LL's responsibility to change the locks if required, it's not something the tenant normally is asked to pay for? Also if you did call a locksmith they likely could have rekeyed the lock for less than $100, so by paying $100 you may have got a bad deal as well.

The way it should be done is that two copies of the lease are first prepared and the LL signs both of them and gives to tenant, then tenant signs both and keeps one. The person providing a service signs first, and the one who will be responsible to pay should be the last to sign, and since a contract has just been formed they have every right to keep their copy right away.

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Comments:
: Are you in a rent stabilized unit? Presumably people who are not rent stabilized should receive their copy as soon as they sign, as there would be no reason for the LL not to give a copy right away? 

: Unlikely to be grounds for termination, but the faq must be quoting the housing laws, so you could write and ask the LL for your copy as required by the regulations. If he still did not you could go to the housing court and ask them how to go about having the regulation enforced. 

: This seems to come up as a problem very often, there must be some significant reason why LL's are so often so reluctant to give the tenant a copy of the lease. Perhaps they feel a tenant is less likely to stand up for his rights if he does not have any documentation?

: Isn't it the LL's responsibility to change the locks if required, it's not something the tenant normally is asked to pay for? Also if you did call a locksmith they likely could have rekeyed the lock for less than $100, so by paying $100 you may have got a bad deal as well.

: The way it should be done is that two copies of the lease are first prepared and the LL signs both of them and gives to tenant, then tenant signs both and keeps one. The person providing a service signs first, and the one who will be responsible to pay should be the last to sign, and since a contract has just been formed they have every right to keep their copy right away.



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