Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York
Rental of a condominium apartment
I rent an apartment in a condominium building in New York City. I have a lease which is expiring April 31, 2002. There is a renewal clause in this lease stating the Landlord gives the Tenant the option to renew this lease at a certain rental increase. That is fine for this year. Now he wants to negotiate the renewal option for 2003 which he will put in this lease as an option. Is there a law that the landlord can only raise the rent a certain percentage? This is not a rent controlled or stabilized apartment. Can he raise the rent to whatever he wants for the next year?? He is saying that he tihnks he can get much more for the apartment and he wants to cjeck around. Thank you!!
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Rental of a condominium apartment
Presuming that you were not a non-purchasing tenant at the time the building became a condo, the rent is open to negotiation. Let the landlord check prices, while the market has softened downtown, it remains strong in most parts of the city, esp. if the unit has 2 bedrooms or more.
Re: Rental of a condominium apartment
A further point to what Mr. Blumenthal wrote: There is no requirement that a lease contain an option for the following year at a particular price. Depending, of course, on the language of your particular lease, it seems likely (based on what you wrote) that you can simply exercise your option for the next year, leaving silent anything about the following year.
As the next lease term begins to expire, you can negotiate with the landlord at that time as to the appropriate rent. He takes the risk that apartment prices will drop (such that you will move out if he is asking too much) and you take the risk that apartment prices will rise (in which case you would have done better if you agreed to a price today rather than wait).
-- Kenneth J. Ashman; Ashman Law Offices, LLC; 156 W. 56th Street, Suite 1902, New York, New York 10019; [email protected]; www.lawyers.com/alo
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