Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York
House Rental
I paid my realtor his fee to rent an apartment in Wantagh. The Landlord gave me the key so I could start painting and said she would mail me the lease. I have finished 75% of the painting and have laid out $900 from my pocket. Now the landlord told the Realtor to tell me she is selling the house. After calling the Landlord, her husband told me ''tuff Luck'' and he was not going to reimburse me for my out of pocket enpense.
Can I place a mechanic's Lean on her house?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: House Rental
In my opinion, you have a 1 year lease on the apartment for the amount agreed.
When the landlord gives you the key and you take possession (start painting), then you are a tenant and your lease is 1 year.
The interesting part comes in if the apartment is a DHCR controlled apartment. If so, then your lease may be renewable indefinitely (40-50 years or longer).
Landlord & Tenant Law can be a lot of fun. In this situation (1) you have a right to your full year (and maybe more) as a tenant and (2) the matter is usually reolved by paying you money.
The amount paid to the legal-but-unwanted tenant is usually 12 months rent. So if your rent is 100 per month, you might get 1200. Or if your rent is 1,000 then you may get 12,000.
Representing the Tenant in a Landlord & tenant action is usually a thankless job -- except in a case like this. Please let me know if you are seeking legal counsel in this matter because I would be very enthusiastic about representing you. Email is best to make an appointment.
There is nothing that brings a smile to me like making the landlord pay money to the Tenant.
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