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Vacating early bc of possible strike--do I have any rights?

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Vacating early bc of possible strike--do I have any rights?

Postby nycrenter2014 » Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:00 am

My building management told us the building workers may go on strike April 21. If that happens, no move ins or move outs will be allowed. First, is that legal? Second, we were planning on moving 4/25. if there's a strike and we can't, who knows when we can move or how much we'd be charged to stay in the apt.
Building management suggested we move out before 4/18. We can do this, but I'm wondering if we have any right to pay only prorated rent for this month. We are moving out early only because they recommended it.
Our lease mentions strikes only in that 'building services may be interrupted.'

Rent is due first of the month (today) with a late fee after 10 days. Should i pay the prorated amount today and try to work it out with the building managers? Or not pay anything just yet? Or if i have no legal standing i'll pay the whole thing. FYI this is a big building with a managing agent on staff and some unknown Owner off-site. When i asked in person the manager said we should move out "but we'll still have access to the apartment" so that's why we should pay the full month. (for an empty apt!)

any thoughts? The prorated amount we'd save is $1400, so it's not insignificant.
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Postby TenantNet » Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:26 pm

Your best bet is to negotiate with the management. The strike is still only a possibility.

If your lease goes beyond the end of April, then it's possible the LL is already giving you a break. Plus, if you're paying $4200 a month, it's not like you're going to end out on the street.
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Postby nycrenter2014 » Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:52 pm

Thank you. The lease ends on April 30, so i'm just worried that if there is a strike, we won't be able to move out on April 25 (i have one mover booked for that date already). Whenever the strike ends, then we could move, but If I only have a day's notice, it would be really hard to find a mover. And potentially we'd have to stay into May, who knows what they would charge us for that.

It's just a crapshoot but I feel it's better to play it safe and move out early if I can, I just hate to pay for an empty apt.


TenantNet wrote:Your best bet is to negotiate with the management. The strike is still only a possibility.

If your lease goes beyond the end of April, then it's possible the LL is already giving you a break. Plus, if you're paying $4200 a month, it's not like you're going to end out on the street.
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Postby TenantNet » Tue Apr 01, 2014 12:58 pm

Not knowing your building, can you move out on your own or is the building staff needed? Is there a separate freight elevator that you must use? Can you not use it without the staff?

If you really want out w/o too much hassle, then consider moving out prior to the strike. That's one issue.

It's unusual for LLs to give a week off of the rent. If you had extra months in your lease, some LLs will permit early move-out for the extra months, but not weeks.
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Postby nycrenter2014 » Tue Apr 01, 2014 1:48 pm

There is a separate freight elevator which we must reserve, and which I did a while ago. I don't know what staffing is needed, but I'm sure they will say they need someone to supervise it... (there's no elevator operator, if that's what you mean).

I'm still baffled that a building can say there are no move ins or move outs permitted for an indefinite period of time if there is a strike.



TenantNet wrote:Not knowing your building, can you move out on your own or is the building staff needed? Is there a separate freight elevator that you must use? Can you not use it without the staff?

If you really want out w/o too much hassle, then consider moving out prior to the strike. That's one issue.

It's unusual for LLs to give a week off of the rent. If you had extra months in your lease, some LLs will permit early move-out for the extra months, but not weeks.
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Postby TenantNet » Tue Apr 01, 2014 1:55 pm

It might have to do with liability of the LL, but it also might have to do with the moving company not damaging anything.

LLs may impose reasonable restrictions, i.e., no moving out at 3 AM, etc.

But many LLs abuse this authority.

I would think you can move small stuff using the regular elevator, but large pieces of furniture might require the freight elevator. It really depends on teh building.
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