Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

We have a rental property and have used a real estate office to take care of the rentals for which we pay them a 20 % fee. However for the past few years we have also rented on line by owner. We have had such a better rental rate that we only have one renter from the real estate that rents our house for 1 full week every summer for the past 6 years. Out of loyalty to the real estate we started with and to the loyal renter, we have kept this one rental. However we no longer feel the need to pay even this 20 % It is considerable at $800.

My question is legally how do we keep the renter but lose the real estate? My husband says that we can be sued if we inform the renter that we only advertise on line now. Also, is it possible to inform him, if we rent to someone else next year and then tell him or would that still be stealing someone elses customer?


Asked on 8/21/10, 6:39 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Arnold Nager Arnold H. Nager, Esquire

You could try to negotiate a settlement for a release from the real estate agent.

In any event, if you retain the Tenant without an agreement, you may be subject to a lawsuit.

This post is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is a comment on the legal question posed by the poster and should not be relied upon in any way. All readers are advised to consult an attorney to address their specific legal concerns. Additional facts could affect the answer given.

My comments are based on treating your question as a hypothetical. Accordingly, my comments could be substantially and materially different were I advised of all of the relevant facts and circumstances. My comments are by necessity general in nature, and should not be relied upon in taking or forgoing action in your circumstances without retaining an attorney. In order to fully explore your legal matter, you should meet with me or another attorney and bring to any such meeting all relevant documents and correspondence, and any other relevant facts. I am not hired to be your attorney, and no attorney-client relationship exists between us, unless and until you enter into a written retainer agreement with me, tender the agreed amount for a retainer and it is accepted by me. I reserve the right to decline representation should circumstances change. As you are aware, in New York there are various deadlines for filing a complaint, filing an answer to a complaint, or taking other action in order to preserve your legal rights, and avoid a complete loss of those rights. You should retain counsel immediately in order to be fully advised of your rights, and to be fully informed of the applicable time period within which those rights must be asserted. If you were to delay in doing so, it might result in your potential cause of action being forever barred.

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Answered on 8/26/10, 7:27 am


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