TenantNet Forum

Where tenants can seek help and help others



Sublet apartment - subtenant has not paid rent in 4 months!

Rights for non-regulated tenants

Moderator: TenantNet

Sublet apartment - subtenant has not paid rent in 4 months!

Postby kubiquitous » Tue Mar 12, 2013 5:49 pm

I am the sole Lessee/ Tenant on a 2 year lease agreement, and I allowed a friend to sublet the apartment without permission from the landlord (large, prewar building in Manhattan; non-regulated rent; and there was no sublease agreement with my friend). She assured me she had been paying rent.

In February she called saying an eviction notice had been served, as she hadn't paid rent in 3 months. I panicked and paid the rent, to avoid the charges affecting my credit report. She agreed to be out at the end of March and claimed she had paid rent for the month of March. However, she has not paid for March, and is now insisting she won't be out until the end of April.

I would like to get her out as soon as possible and break the lease to avoid additional losses, since she refuses to pay rent and refuses to leave. The management company won't show the apartment until she has moved out. Any advice on the appropriate approach? Do I approach this as a "landlord" and serve a pay or quit notice? Or do I need to approach this with the help of the management company since they did not give her permission to sublet the apartment?

Any recommendations or thoughts are greatly appreciated!
kubiquitous
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 5:15 pm
Location: New York, NY

Postby ronin » Tue Apr 02, 2013 12:07 am

Wow. You really did not do your homework before putting yourself in this mess. Hindsight is 20/20. A least a written agreement would give you some basis for expecting better.

What is not clear is why you don't move into the apartment or try to resublet it to another sub-tenant.

Your friends failure to pay is bad, but really your fault. You were well aware that your name was on the lease and that you are responsible for the place. You should have required her to pay you, or to pay directly and provide you with an immediate copy of the payment.

In any case, if she really is going to leave at the end of April, then there is no process faster than that to get her to move. You should consider checking to see if she is really packing or getting ready to give you more trouble.

As for working with the management- hard to say. Depends on the particular manager. Most I wouldn't trust.
ronin
 
Posts: 419
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2002 2:01 am


Return to NYC Non-Regulated Apartments

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests