Hello, I’m here to get some guidance on the implications of breaking a rent-stabilized lease (details below). I want to move to a new building and would like to find out about others experiences with requesting to be released from a rent-stabilized lease. My lease has a section about subletting/ assigning and possible penalties, but I’m wondering if anyone has had the experience where the landlord was happy to recover the apartment so they could renovate and raise the rent. I currently pay $1200 while a new tenant would pay $1650.
I’ve also reached out to the NY Bar Referral service for a consultation with an attorney, so that will happen next week.
Background:
I’ve lived in my rent-stabilized apartment for 8 years now and am currently entering the second half of my 2 year lease. A new tenant recently moved in above me and has completely put an end to the quiet I once enjoyed in my home. I understand that occasional sounds of life are expected (walking, items falling, moving furniture etc) and I tolerate those quite well, however her behavior has been excessive. Loud music, fighting, friends visiting and (literally) running around the apartment like kids at a park, loud telephone conversations (apparently her conversational tone is loudly projecting her voice). I have literally been woken out of sleep in the middle of the night by the sound of her voice. The latest nuisance is the straw that broke the camel’s back. She has apparently installed speakers/ surround sound to her TV and I now feel as though I live beneath a movie theater.
She watches tv ALL DAY. At first, this was limited to weekends, but since the start of July, she’s now watching tv ALL DAY LONG. I’ve woken up as early as 6:45am on a weekday to be greeted by the sounds from her tv. I’ve spoken to this tenant twice in April about her general noisiness, left a note in May reminding her that noise from her apartment is audible on the floor beneath her and last week left her another note about the sounds from her tv and asking her to invest in soundproofing for her apartment. In this note, I also restated the sections from our lease that specifically mention disturbing other residents with loud tv watching.
I have also reached out to the management company (since April) via multiple emails, through my building’s super and via telephone. I have pleaded with them for help, to no avail. On the phone, they transfer me to the “noise complaint department” where no one ever answers the phone. At this point I believe it to be an inside joke.
Living underneath this chaos is bringing on symptoms of anxiety daily and I’m also experiencing headaches associated with stress.
Thank you for your help.