TenantNet Forum

Where tenants can seek help and help others



Strange situation here.

Public Housing (NYCHA), SRO, HUD, HPD, Mitchell Lama, Lofts, Coop/Condo

Moderator: TenantNet

Strange situation here.

Postby mrtone » Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:02 pm

Hello, everybody.

My wife and I signed a 1-year lease with Kim, and moved into this 1-bed apartment in a non-regulated condo last year, and turns out Kim was going through multiple lawsuits, and the unit that we moved in was foreclosed in 2 months. Can Kim do that?
The new owners harassed my wife and brought us to court by filing non-payment case while they refused to cash our rent check.
We counterclaimed but the judge said that we should just pay them again, and file a harassment case against them in another court.
What kind of court would that be? Housing court, or Civil court?

The troubled lease expires in 2 months, so are we "month-to-month" tenants?
Now, what are our options?
Can we move out before or after the expiration?

I'd appreciate any help I can get in advance.
mrtone
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2017 10:39 pm

Re: Strange situation here.

Postby TenantNet » Wed Apr 05, 2017 6:16 am

Can Kim do what? Rent the apartment? I don't see why not.

A new owner would become your landlord and takes on the lease you signed with the previous landlord. Refusing rent that was tendered by you is a defense that you should raise in a Housing Court non-payment proceeding.

This sounds like a lazy judge if all he did was tell you to pay again, but this happens quite a lot. He should have - in our opinion - dealt with the harassment. But many judges don't want to take on that burden.

You could file in Civil Court or Supreme Court. But to be honest, the harassment laws in NYC are so weak that you might not get anywhere, especially if all the "harassment" amounts to is the LL not cashing your rent check.

You would become M2M after the lease expires, not now, and only if the LL accepts your rent after the lease expires. He is not obligated to do so. He might choose to ask you to leave.

Can you move out now? Sure. But understand that the LL might come after you for the rent for the rest of the lease.
The Tenant Network(tm) for Residential Tenants
Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
activists and is not considered legal advice.

Subscribe to our Twitter Feed @TenantNet
TenantNet
 
Posts: 10306
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2002 2:01 am
Location: New York City

Re: Strange situation here.

Postby mrtone » Thu Apr 06, 2017 5:27 pm

Thank you so much for your help, TenantNet.

While I appreciate and respect your expertise, I feel that Kim shouldn't have rented out the unit to us when he was going through the foreclosure. He must've known that we would have to move out within a few months, and that would cost us a lot of money, all over again.
Can we sue him for that? If yes, would it be a Civil Case or Landlord & Tenant case?
mrtone
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2017 10:39 pm

Re: Strange situation here.

Postby TenantNet » Thu Apr 06, 2017 5:43 pm

The problems is your original post was not clear. Is English a second language?

What he should or should not do is a moral decision. You asked me for a legal assessment (to the extent I can give one as I'm experienced, but not an attorney). As I indicated, I'm not aware of any legal prohibition for renting the unit based on your post.

If you feel there was fraud or misrepresentation, you might have a cause of action, and you should get an opinion from an attorney.
The Tenant Network(tm) for Residential Tenants
Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
activists and is not considered legal advice.

Subscribe to our Twitter Feed @TenantNet
TenantNet
 
Posts: 10306
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2002 2:01 am
Location: New York City


Return to Other NYC Housing Issues

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests