Lanlord

[RCOLEMANN]

My lanlord gave me a lease for six months 4/05-10/05, however she said last month she would be going to court to get us evicted. We pay our rent every month not missing a month by depositing it straight in her bank account. We sent her back the lease. Can she evict us or because we have a six month lease can we stay until it is up. Mind you we have taped conversations of her saying we have a six months lease on our answering machine.

I'm all ears

[HardKnocks]

If you have a lease, she'd have to prove in court that you seriously violated it in some way if she wants to evict you.

Your story is unclear. You say your lease started this month, but that you pay your rent every month. Do you mean that you have been living there for some time, but when she renewed your lease it was only for 6 months? Have you always had 6-month leases? Is your unit rent-stabilized/controlled? Is she evicting you or just giving you notice that she wants you to move? What are her reasons for wanting to go to court?

You have to tell us what's going on here before we can answer you.

[Robert Fortune]

Aloha, Coleman:

First, I am *NOT* a lawyer. That said I wouldn't count on using any "taped" telephone conversations you *may* have of your BO\landlord stating you have a six month lease. For one thing it may be illegal to record a telephone conversation with a second party without their knowledge that the telephone conversation is being recorded. Given that possibility it could make you look worse than you are and hurt your case instead of helping your case.
Now as far as the BO\landlord going to the court to have you evicted I would think she would have to have a very substantial reason for doing that such as you not paying her the rent even after she notified you that you did not pay your rent, destroying the property and\or any other such aggrevious type tenant behavior on your part.
Anything short of that sort of behavior on your part as a legal rent-paying tenant and I imagine she would be legally obligated to give you notice that you are doing something she believes is in violation of your lease agreement with her before she can go into court seeking to have you evicted, provided of course that, as you say, you have a six month agreed upon and signed lease with her.
She would have to have some sort of proof that she made you aware of any problem(s) either in writing, over the telephone, or in person or in person through someone in her employ prior to running off to housing court to have you evicted.
Hang in there and know your legal rights as a New York City rent-paying tenant and stand up for them. Hope that helps. Aloha. Peace.

Lizard~King

"I am not *ON* the Black list. I *AM* the Black list."

[HardKnocks]

Which is a really, really, REALLY long way of saying what I said in my first sentence. LizardKing, we oughta pay you by the word.

And it's certainly not illegal to keep a conversation recorded on your own answering machine. In NY only one party has to know the conversation is being recorded.

[Robert Fortune]

Aloha, Bleary-Eyed Tenant:

Indeed, I am a man of "letters" and plenty of them. However, I am *not* the cause of your "Bleary eyes" so what say you cut me some slack on that, agreed? <grin>
I myself prefer detailed and thoroughly thought out and written out messages. It's the "didn't know about that" detail(s) that catch one up in some **** that had one been fully aware of and informed of would no doubt have been easily side-stepped.
That to me seems to be the purpose of this legal "profession" itself. Intentionally make
a lot of little known details and multiple laws from different levels of gov't and gov't agencies that it's damn near impossible for the average person to understand much less know the (housing) laws that they are governed and must live under.
Then the lawyers step right in, cut *you*, as the aggrieved tenant in the case, a "deal" with your BO\LL's lawyer and you get what they agree to agree to and you get what they, without saying in so many words, let you know is a "pretty good deal" for you and the standard as far as your type of case goes. Nice tidy little arrangement they've worked out for themselves and I'll bet their Uncle Joel is the judge in the case!
Just my $200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.00 cents. Aloha. Peace.

Lizard~King

[Downtown]

Sounds like a lease renewal that only OP signed. If apt. not regulated then LL can change her mind about renewing.
If this is so, but rent was accepted for April..at worst a MTM tenant and LL would have to follow proceedure to terminate.
Is building 6 or more units?
If apt is open market, no rent accepted for April. no lease signed by BOTH parties...then LL could start holdover proceedure.