How to Deposit Rent with the Court?

[Wary In NY]

In reading Tenant's Rights literature put out by various tenant rights groups, they say that if you have a dispute over rent it is best to deposit the rent payments with the Court or place it in escrow rather than not paying it at all.

BUT HOW?

Since there is no case pending in the Court, and no Judge assigned, how does one deposit it with the Court?

I called the Court clerk's office & they have no idea what I am talking about!

So how do I do this, or have payments held in escrow?

[cestmoi123]

Any lawyer can set up an escrow account for you.

[Wary In NY]

Tying to do this WITHOUT using a lawyer.

A lawyer wil cost more than the amount in dispute.

Thanks

[TenantNet]

You may have misread the literature. It means when there is an active case. When there is no case going on, yes you may have an attorney keep it in escrow, but that's not necessary. In some cases a court will have the attorney do the work of setting up an account.

Before a case, just keep it safe in your bank account and don't touch it. It's a good idea to do this, but not legally required. Many tenants don't keep it in escrow, but then are forced to scramble if a court orders the rent paid.

[cestmoi123]

If you want to go sans-lawyer, and really want to be clear about it, open a new savings account and put it (and only it) in there.

[Wary In NY]

I like that idea of a new account. I'll pay into that & let them know what I am doing.

Today my situation here went from the ridiculous to the bizarre. Listen to this craziness.

I received a letter telling me that my friend, who visits me about 3X a week, and never overnight & always for less than 8 hours, may no longer park here because visitor parking, according to the Management's Rules(UNWRITTEN), is reserved for short term & infrequent use only (Problem is that there is no street parking nearby - all Coops for several blocks with private parking). They put me on formal notice that if she parks in the visitor's area, not only will they impose a $185/mo fine, but they consider it a "gross violation" of the lease (Is "gross" worse than "substantial?"). They told me to remedy the situation I can lease & pay a monthly amount for a parking spot "for your friend." So i decided it wasn't worth fighting, so I asked for a parking spot. I received the parking spot agreement & the first sentence says only a Tenant may park in the spot I am leasing. I asked if it OK for my friend to park in the spot if she is not a tenant & I was told no - BY THE SAME "LEGAL DEPARTMENT" rep who told me to lease a parking spot for my friend!

Ahh - the joys of suburbia!