Roommates/occupants refuse to pay rent..!@#!$!%

[redhot]

I am the only tenant on the lease of a rent stabilized apartment in NYC. My two roommates have started a mutiny and decided not to pay rent. I have been advised to serve them with a notice of termination of the month to month rental agreement, meaning they would have the remainder of the current month as well as the following month to remain in the premises. Not a pleasant situation considering they are there at my expense.

1. Is this the best course vs a court order for non payment of rent?

2. Can I get them out any sooner? How?

3. If not, how long after the termination of the month to month is it possible to get their leeching asses out, locks changed and their stuff legally on the street?

4. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help.
RedHot

[Chimera]

I'm sorry to say that this process could take months no matter which route you take, and your roommates probably know it. It will take a few weeks to get a court date set, they can adjourn at least once (buying 2 more weeks per adjournment), and then, after a number of weeks when a verdict of eviction is finally met it will take perhaps 5+ weeks to get a warrant of eviction and a marshall at your door (this is the only point at which you may change the locks.) It might be quicker to start a non-payment proceeding (will save you 1 3/4 months), but be aware that if they pay you on the courthouse steps, you will be obligated to take them back and start the process over again. They can also request a stay of eviction from the judge, which means if they claim that they can't find a place to live the judge will allow them to stay in your apartment for another 2 months or so. They are supposed to pay rent during this period, but I'm not sure how successful the enforcement of this rule is.

I would strongly suggest that you hire a competent landlord-tenant lawyer to handle your case. One mis-step on your part and it could cost you months of missed rent. Good luck with your case!

[eastsidah]

Are you charging them a proportional share of the rent (i.e. 1/3 each)? If not, be careful as they can get 3 times of the overcharges paid.

[Lilly]

First of all, as the only person on the lease of a rent stabilized apartment you are allowed to have only 1 roommate, that is 1 person who is unrelated to you and not a member of your immediate family. Secondly, since you have 2 of them and they are both unrelated to you , you can only charge them 1/3 of the rent stated in your lease. Any more than that and they have a roommate overcharge case. I would move to evict 1 and bring a non-payment proceeding against the other, that is if you haven't been overcharging them. If you have, pray you've been paid in cash. There was a recent ruling, posted here on Tenant.net that states that the leaseholder can "cure" the overcharge by paying it back. If that is the case I strongly suggest you do that and get a receipt before they file anything with DHCR or the courts. If you refund before they file anything it makes you look a whole lot better.