looking for attorney referrals and those I should not please

[Sio99]

Hi there - we are looking for a lawyer (affordable) that has had success. We have receive a notice of intent not to renew and I think we have a case. The lease has been in my sisters name since 1996 - about 5 years ago we did alert the landlord with a form they provided that I also resided here although I have been here for 10 years, they just requested this then when I paid the rent, not her. I am her brother. 3 years ago she got married so is only here 6 or 7 days a month now, she spends most of her time with her husband on LI. Well the landlord picked this up on a public records search. She doesn't care if the lease remains in her name or is succeeded to me but we are still living here so need our lease renewed. Her last name is different than mine as she was divorced but kept her married name so that is likely the confusion but we can certainly provide birth certificates and affidavits from neighbors we have been both here for years.

Anyway I am looking for a referral for an attorney to deal with my landlords lawyers. I haven't responded to their letter - I don't want to make mistake. Would also love to hear of any lawyers that have not worked for you so I can avoid a mistake I can't afford. Thank You!
Carl

[TenantNet]

Look on the pages of this forum for tenant lawyer advertisements. Refresh the page for a different ad. Talk to several and shop around. This would be a non-primary residence case (your sister not living there), but you might have a defense with a family succession. A competent tenant lawyer should be able to give you a good legal assessment based on the specifics.