LL request

[nycman]

I am a RS tenant. A prior management company failed to offer me a renewal lease three years ago. The new management company is requesting a copy of a renewal lease as they have no records from the prior management company. Do you have any advice on how to handle this request?

[TenantNet]

Don't answer them. Seriously, don't.

1. You are not required by any law to give them a copy of what they don't have. (unless a court orders it)

2. As long as you do not have a lease, the rent can't go up.

3. On exception might be SCRIE, if you are applying for SCRIE or DRIE, that might create a situation where you need a lease (or have an active complaint with DHCR.)

4. You could file with DHCR for the LL's failure to give you a lease. (do you think they will lie claiming they sent one to you?). But do so ONLY if YOU need it, not if they need it. And, we strongly advise tenants to NOT file with DHCR. We've seen some horrific decisions on this topic.

5. It is the obligation of a new landlord to "step into the shoes" of the old LL. In other words, the new LL must do due diligence prior to buying a building. Looks like they forgot.

6. Part of this might have to do with two bills pending in Albany. See below for an article in today's The Real Deal.


Even the most avid record keepers may have a hard time complying with these two state bills.
by Kathryn Brenzel
August 22, 2023, The Real Deal

That’s because the measures require landlords to dig up, in some cases, records detailing work done decades ago by previous owners.

I spoke with a few landlords and attorneys last week about how best to prepare for a pair of bills that could trigger large rent-overcharge judgments. The measures have not yet been delivered to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk, and the governor has not said whether she will sign them into law.

But some landlords and property managers are sorting through filing cabinets, scrounging together what records they have. Some are even rushing to finish combining vacant units to avoid potential new rules on initial rents, according to real estate attorney Sherwin Belkin.

“Use this time now to get your evidence together,” he advised them. “To wait until the last minute would really put yourself in jeopardy.”

There is only so much you can do. Landlord Leon Goldenberg, who has been lobbying lawmakers on the measures, noted that his company only kept records going back 10 years.

“Who has records, bills, for work they did in 2001?” Goldenberg asked.

One of the bills expands the definition of fraud in rent overcharge cases. Landlord groups argue the change will open the floodgates for such cases because tenants can consult rental history beyond the usual four years if they can prove fraud. Thus, how the law defines fraud is crucial.

The measure also limits rents for vacant, stabilized apartments that are combined, and requires all landlords who deregulated buildings through substantial rehabilitations to prove they were properly converted to market-rate. Without such proof, conversions could be rolled back.

The other bill allows tenants to consult rent histories beyond the four-year lookback when seeking to calculate their legal rent after June 14, 2019.

[nycman]

Thank you for your prompt response. I do have a DHCR order for them to issue me a renewal lease. It was issued two years ago. They seem to be unaware of this order as well.

[TenantNet]

So just be quiet. Don't answer them or show them the DHCR order. These are new people and you have no idea what agenda they have. Have you googled them at all? Do some research on them.

[nycman]

I will not respond to their request. The new people are a management company associated with an RE investor who bought the mortgage to the building as part of a portfolio of RS buildings.

[TenantNet]

That's what you call predatory equity. Can you tell us the name of the new owner by Private mail, or to find out more see zola.planning.nyc.gov

Type in the address, or block/lot number, and when the circle stops spinning, you can click on "show owner" in the right side.

A new owner will want to combine units in order to deregulate them (see above).