Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York

HOW CAN I FIND OUT IF MY RENTAL IS LEGAL? ALSO - Plumbing - who's responsible?

Two questions

1. I rent one bedroom in someone's house. He had me sign a year long lease and pay a one month deposit. Now I'm moving out early and I want to know if it was a legal rental or not. How could I find this out? What makes a rental legal? When is it legal to just rent out one bedroom in a residential house?

2. My landlord claims I owe him thousands of dollars for his clogged pipes, even though I've only used them for normal things (brushing teeth, washing hands, dishes in the kitchen sink). Can I be held responsible for this, or is it entirely his responsibility to keep the pipes in shape?

Thanks for the help!

CH


Asked on 1/23/05, 11:26 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Andrew Nitzberg Andrew Nitzberg & Associates

Re: HOW CAN I FIND OUT IF MY RENTAL IS LEGAL? ALSO - Plumbing - who's responsib

(1) The regulations are contained in a series of law books called "NY Code of Rules and Regulations". The NY Jurisprudence" might be easier to access.

The Code is available to you at the supreme court courthouse in the borough in which you live. You might need a law library for the NY Jurisprudence. A college library might do the job (John Jat College).

You might check with the NY attorney general office. he can send you whatever is in the Code.

On the 2nd question, ignore the clogged pipe foolishness. Unless you did something strange to create a problem, the pipes are his concern.

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Answered on 1/26/05, 2:18 pm


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