I have had a rent controlled apartment since 1970. In 2019 this guy moved in and had no problem paying his rent on time for over a year. I live in New Jersey but a few weeks ago I started living in one of the rooms in that apartment to establish I live there when going to court because he has not paid rent in over a year citing that he lost a lot of income because of the pandemic. He stopped paying in the middle of march 2020, resumed paying rent in july until the end of october then has not paid rent since.
The problem I have is..I admit it, I screwed up. A couple of months ago I just got fed up was at my wits end and I told the super to turn off the electricity (He was the only one in the apartment at the time) - I never though this guy would call the police and he did. I admit I lied to the guy and told him I couldn't afford it but the office had him call con-ed and they said they didn't turn it off, they got ahold of my super and had him turn it back on, it was humiliating. This really got the deadbeat angry because he complained that the fridge broke about 9 months ago and actually reported me, fortunately the building owners contacted the super to fix the issue so they still don't know. I did replace the fridge last month.
Last year in the beginning of Jan I offered to help this guy find a room and pay his moving expenses including the first months rent but he didn't accept that, instead he tried to force me to give him information so he could apply for rent relief which I of course didn't. He said moving would be a solution for me but not for him as he still was not working but what about me? I have not received rent in over a year. I charged him 250 a week to live in manhattan, electricity included and then he accuses me of scamming him and the building??? I also never gave him receipts for the rent but he said he has the recordings of us acknowledging he paid rent for 14 months of the 2 1/2 years he's lived here.
I confronted him today to see what was going on and the guy freaked out on me. He said he's taking me to court overcharging him (it is a rent controlled apartment) he asked me how much the rent was but I didn't tell him so he won't have that if he takes me to court. He also said he's taking me to court for the 9 months the fridge wasn't in there saying he spent over 20 dollars a day eating out...he can afford that but he can't pay me? And harassing him by turning off the electricity and offering to buy him out. I told him he didn't have any proof then he dropped a bomb on me, turns out the deadbeat has been recording every (or most) of the phone calls all this time. He also said that if needed he will have the cop testify in court that I told him I lived in New Jersey, I don't remember saying that but I might have? I do remember the cop telling him that the body cam recorded the whole thing, can he actually get ahold of that video if the cam was on? He also said he contacted an attorney who told him since the super turned off the electricity that he can sue the building because the super was "an agent of he building" whatever that means. I asked him if he was trying to get the apartment and he said he wasn't, that he knows he has to move and that he was aware that he didn't own this apartment but had the nerve to tell me I didn't own it, my name is on the lease!!! He's using this pandemic as an excuse, since I moved in he's been home all day and not working living off of me. They came out with a vaccine for the pandemic almost a year ago! He probably didn't even get the vaccine.
I can't lose this apartment, I've had it for almost 50 years now and it has been a blessing for when my family visits several times a year and I use 2 of the rooms for storage and my brother who lives next door uses it also. I would appreciate any advice if this guy does take me to court, maybe he was just saying it to scare me? Since they are only audio recordings can he use those in court? I did research online and I saw where recordings were used in court but they were video recordings. When I did offer to help him move my son and sister talked to him. Sine he talked to them about it can those recordings still be used in court if my name is on the lease? Can he actually sue me for overcharging him? Can he sue me for the fridge being out even though he didn't pay me a dime and can he sue me or the building for having the super turn off his electric? Now the super is pissed at me because of this guy. Can he record our conversations without my consent? I didn't tell him how much I paid rent but he said he's going to find out, isn't what I pay rent confidential???
Please once again I can't lose this apartment. I have a lot of memories here growing up, I've worked hard all my life i'm just a retiree trying to survive. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you!