Lease renewal

[NYCkid]

I have lived in my rent stabilized apartment for almost a year now and the lease is up at the end of this month. I know the landlord is supposed to offer a renewal 90 days prior to expiration. He has done nothing of the sort. What do I do? Just continue to pay the rent? Do I lose anything this way? Does it help me? Why on earth wouldnt he renew and raise my rent? Please help.

[Sean Flaherty]

I've gone through this each year with my landlord and, after trying to get upgrade from a 1-year to a 2-year lease, I still have no lease for 2003.

Mine is a rent-stabilized building the landlord knows that I am well aware of the laws.

I highly recommend the DHCR. I suggest you go to www.dhcr.state.ny.us and open the housing section, work your way to the section that has the forms you can print out. Specifically the form titled "Tenant's complaint of Owner's failure to Renew Lease and/or Failure to Furnish a copy of a Signed Lease".

I hope this helps.

[NYCkid]

Yes, but I dont think it benefits me at all to get a new lease since I am already covered by the rent stabilization laws and he cannot raise the rent without giving a renewal. If he does give a renewal, he would surely raise the rent. So what do I have to gain by fighting for a renewal? Am I wrong in my thinking?

[consigliere]

The only reason you might want to indicate to your landlord that you did not receive an offer to renew your lease is to prevent your landlord from claiming that he offered you a renewal lease and you failed to respond.
 
What you could do, without sending a letter to your landlord by certified mail or filing a complaint with DHCR, is to write something about his failure to offer a lease renewal on the back of your rent check, just above the endorsement area.
 

[NYCkid]

But wouldnt that tempt him to renew my lease and thus raise my rent? He is the laziest damn landlord I have ever heard of. He is not evil spirited, he just could care less. He does the bare minimum--nothing more. He doesnt even try to raise rents other than on vacancy! I am not begging him to try to screw me, I just dont understand it from a business perspective. He hasnt even registered a single apt in the building with DHCR since 1996.

Other people in the building have told me that he doesnt renew their leases either. I really dont understand how he runs his business. As long as I pay less, I am happy. I just want to protect my rights.

[chelsea]

I would just sit tight and keep paying at the old rate. As you say, he can't raise the rent until he offers a new lease.

[NYCkid]

So today the super delivered a new lease. It was not a rider but was instead a new lease form. There was no one or two year option, but instead one year at an increase that was neither 2% or 4%. To top it off, the landlord requested in a note the amount of the increase in back rent, raising it retroactive to the end of the last lease. Plus he requested an increase in security deposit (we had already given him two months which I know is not allowed, but this is the first time we are asking for it back). I know how illegal all of this is, but does it constitute a renewal offer?

Am I correct that it is at my discretion to start the renewal 90 days from the time I recieve the PROPER renewal? How do I report this now? Should I? I already talked to the landlord and he said he would "get back to me". I am sending him a letter outlining these issues by both certified and regular mail (he may not accept certified mail). Is there anything else I need to do?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Phil Cohen]

Yes, the lease must be served within a certain time period (it is 60 or 90 days before lease expiration -- see DHCR rules) and no rent increase before then. You have a choice of one or two years, and 2% or 4% leases. The lease term is pushed ahead by any LL delay. I am summarizing here-- but the rules are fairly plain.
I suggest writing a letter pointing this out, and filing a DHCR complaint if he doesn't respond within a reasonable time.
Don't rush to do this. He is definitely in the wrong and delay benefits you, not him. But definitely write him in the next month or so.

[Phil Cohen]

Oh--another thing. If he refuses to accept a certified letter from you, that is fine. Further delay. Be sure to keep it unopened. It just proves his bad faith. Hand-deliver another letter.

[NYCkid]

Thanks Phil. Am I correct that what he offered me does not constitute a renewal offer since it is not right in any way?

[NYCkid]

So while doing research on what my legal rent increase should be, I found out that my last registered rent (in 97) was quite a bit less than what I am paying. I contacted the landlord and told him this and he claimed that since the apartment was renovated in 1981 (my research shows he did not even own the building at the time) my apartment is not stabilized. I was befuddled since DHCR told me that it is and that HE registered it in 97. I told him this and he says, "go ask DHCR, they will tell you."

So at his request, I am filing an overcharge complaint with DHCR. Is there any way on earth that he could be right? What could his strategy be here? Any thoughts? Also, does anyone know how long the turn around at DHCR may be?

<small>[ January 21, 2003, 01:23 AM: Message edited by: NYCkid ]</small>

[Sean Flaherty]

I wouldn't even begin to try to interpret the machinations of the twisted landlord mind. It seems that they rely on an interesting mix of intimidation and Nietzchean magic - neither of which are very effective or reliable if you have half a brain.

When I filed for mediation, it took about 4-5 days until I was contacted by the DHCR and they had assigned me a mediator.

Now that the case has moved on for docketing and processing, I was told it could take 2-4 weeks before I hear back from them. Overall, for a government-run institution, I think that's a pretty snappy turnaround.

[mjr203]

Originally posted by NYCkid:
So at his request, I am filing an overcharge complaint with DHCR. Is there any way on earth that he could be right? What could his strategy be here? Any thoughts? Also, does anyone know how long the turn around at DHCR may be?

The turnaround could be a long frickin time

They assign case codes with codes for "YEARS"... I filed mine in Oct 2002? I don't expect it to even get assigned to a "mediator"/"counselor" for another few months. I don't care that much since it is an expectation of a future judgement and my overcharge was 2001-2002. But for those whose overcharges go back longer, the time delay is significant given the 4 year statute of limitations they put on looking at overcharge records.

I doubt they will even be able to look at the 1997 registration to determine the rent. If you've been overcharged for several years and the overcharge is willfull perhaps getting an attorney and going to civil court will be worth it.

-POINTER

[Cranky Tenant]

Dealing with DHCR is always a mystery. I filed two complaints in June 2000 and put them both in the same Priority Mail envelope. They arrived at Mediations who got back to me in September.

Then Mediations forwarded them for docketing. One was docketed November and a rent order was issued the same month - effective Novermber 1st. The other went into limbo and didn't get docketed till Spring 2001.

DHCR sent a copy to the LL in 2001 but didn't forward his reponse back to me until Spring 2002,

Now, more than two and a half years later, the rent order has been resolved, and my LL has filed a PAR on the second complaint.

[Phil Cohen]

Going back to NYCKid's last post--the conversation has drifted a bit since then--it seems to me that this tenant is in a very straightforward and even enviable position. Evidently the LL's position is that your apartment is NOT stabilized. That would explain why he didn't give you a proper lease renewal.

It seems to me that the rent registration records are pretty conclusive. What I don't know is whether the landlord must charge you only the last registered rent or can add the legal increase to it.
In any event, unless there's something that does not meet the eye, you have a very nice overcharge and rent reduction case, evidently. Treble damages, reduced rent, etc. Congratulations. Be careful to study the rules properly and file the right papers. No rush--you have plenty of time.