Need Legal Advice

[ellebelle]

I just got back from Cancun to a letter slipped under my door dated February 11th (I left on the 20th for Cancun) saying that my landlord has terminated my month-to-month lease and I have thirty days to vacate the apartment before they start legal proceedings.

On February 14th, I got a letter dated February 5th saying that I had 5 days to sign and return a lease extension or sign and return the one I already received (I never received a new lease) or they would be starting legal proceedings. I signed that and dropped it in the mail on February 18th, after tying to call them repeatedly. I used my cell phone, so there are records there. I put a note on the letter stating that I never received the original lease and I absolutely wanted to continue my lease.

They have not done anything through certified mail. None of their phone numbers actually work - they go to machines that have full mailboxes. What should I do in this situation? I have copies of my cancelled checks, and a copy of the letter they sent me. I think I threw away the envelope with the postmark. This new letter was slipped under my door, so there was no postmark.

Thoughts? Preferably from someone who actually has had legal experience or has had a similar situation. All I want is my lease renewed. The landlord is a HUGE agency - I think one hand does not know what the other is doing.

 

[waltercat]

Not a legal person, but can you go to the agency to talk to someone politely face to face? Which agency is it? If they are that big I would think they would be reasonable in renewing your lease.

 

[ellebelle]

Well, they claim to have offered me a lease renewal twice that I have failed to sign and fill out. I never received the first one. I received the second one after the date of the letter and signed and sent it back.

 

[hijinks]

call 311 and they will give you a number for an agency that can deal with renters rights.. they will give you good advice.

 

[Keith P]

That sucks. I hope everything works out for you. From your story, it sounds like they want you out. Very odd...

 

[Pedro Nuno Ferreira]

Hi Ellebelle
I don't know the laws in USA, but over here such legal matters must be accompanied by a delivery in hand slip note that one has to sign as proof of having received the letter/notification, etc... and a mail registration document in which the sender marks "delivery in hand". This month I received one such notification because I forgot to declare the acquisition of my house two years ago. I wasn't home at the time so the post girl (I know it is a girl:Blurp left in my mail box a notification of registered mail to be collected at the post office station. I went there, signed the delivery in hand slip note and received the letter asking me to present the legal form within 10 days counting from the day I received the letter. I presented the documents at the finance office (and paid a fine of 100 euros for having forgotten to declare within 60 days after the acquisition:irked.
Another example of this practice, is for instance the mandatory declaration of chimney effluents measurements under the Kyoto accord, all documents stating measurements mandatory by law have to be presented to the Portuguese Agency for the Environment accompanied by a delivery slip note and mail registration. Also thanks to those to mail documents, I managed to prove to the Portuguese Agency of the Environment and the Civil Protection that they had been notified of the existence of a 200cubic meter natural gas cistern that operates in one of our plants and is not our responsibility...which they claimed it was and that we were under violation of the Civil Protection Major Accidents Prevention Program, a violation that can be fined up to 2000000 euros or more...

Any way concerning your situation please check here for NYC the Rent Stabilization Regulations (last updated in July the 30th 2008) and here part 2541 in detail and and here New York Residential Lease Agreement and here Rent Stabilization Regulations part 2524.1 (could be outdated) still go to http://www.tenant.net/ for some possible help. Some more here for Division of Housing & Community Renewal and here for FAQ about Rent Stabilization Control and some more about rent increase dated from september the 16th 2008.
Some more additional information here and for New York city here and here some information about landlords and month-to-month-lease, and some more information here

Well from reading the regulations I found no indication concerning the obligation of the landlord to prove that in fact he or she did sent the letter, a letter that you did not receive. Still not only am I not knowledgeable about NYC laws as well as USA laws, but also I'm not a lawyer or attorney...I just want to :help: you as much as possible:splitspin (...BTW because of one of my management responsibilities, I'm becoming more...shall we say..., efficient in "dinging" through the laws:shhh:......much to their dislike:tired::irked:......:lol_large)

I hope all ends well for you. This tenant of yours looks to be acting in a kind of fishy hurry...
Cheers
Pedro Nuno;-)

 

[jejton]

Compose a professional letter stating all the facts and recounting your history as a good tenant and that you would like to renew. State all the dates of letters you rceived, what you didnt receive, and the fact that you were out of town for whatever dates. Send it, as you should all correspondance, via certified mail. You can go in person or call to try and work it out but CYA - send the certified letter. If you can't resolve anything over the phone or in person, after the letter is sent, call 311. Are you in a rent-controlled/regulated apartment? If so, the laws are different than other apartments or private homes. If you're renting someones coop or condo, whole other beast. If its just a regular apartment that you are renting and the agency is a management agency, again different rules. So before calling 311, make sure you have all your facts because you dont want to spend all day just to talk to the wrong person. Even with a monthly lease, its not so easy to evict a tenant, especially one who hasn't caused any problems but assuming you want to stay, then you want to avoid going into the not-paying rent, see you in court, business.

 

[House of Laughter]

. . . . . . , then you want to avoid going into the not-paying rent, see you in court, business.

Especially since you have a tank and don't want to come home to a lock set that has been changed and no way to get to your pets. Make sure whomever you speak to on the phone for 311 understands lives are involved.

House

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Call a lawyer. Get real legal advice, not opinions. 311 hires the people that were rejected from 911, and you have to be pretty damn stupid to be rejected as a 911 operator.

 

[jejton]

Chief - Your opinion about 311 operators notwithstanding ( and I hope none are members here and read that post ), 311 operators generally don't give advice except for common problems for which they have posted info to read. What they do is direct you to the appropriate government agency. I've found them very helfpul for a number of problems/questions I had when I lived in Brooklyn. It is one of the better things that the Bloomberg administration has done. I wish there was something like that out here.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

get a lawyer.... period.
let a professional handle the matter
the more info you can provide will make your case stronger

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

J having to deal with both several times per night I have formed some pretty spot on observations.

 

[jhale]

Lissa there are lawyers and tenants rights people you can speak to for free downtown.

Also point of fact, if they have been accepting your rent that counts as a lease. they can't evict you in 30 days.

 

[Cr@sh]

Hey Lissa, I have worked most of my life for high rise luxury blgds ,apt complex's,co-op's & condo's .And between the boards or landlords the one thing they have in common was an attorney on retainer to handle all there tenant court issues.Of course at a cost to them....knowing there cheap they have practiced a lot of rude and illegal ways of intimidating a tenant to vacate or accept an increase or something.I know from representing landlords in court on occasions that any documented proof speaks for itself.The last time I resided in a co-op rental on 15 & 8th ave the landlord wanted $550 dollar increase.with a monthly lease...so knowing I had plenty of time to sit in court ,I filed a $15 dollar fee to bring my landlord in along with a few buddys that are state inspectors and had a number of #A ,#B and #C class violations that cost them a pretty penny....all said and done .....I got back both months security and 4 free months to vacate cause we new we were buying a house on Island anyway. Make sure you send the info certified along with maybe An Attorneys letterhead and the new lease should be at your door.Right on with advice about 30 days ,they can't evict you but I have seen supers and landlords do some low life SH#T like change cylinders or have staff harass you .Cover your paper trail and if you do have to get that ONE day in court,they don't waste time like criminal cases ..you might laugh like I did when the judge ordered the landlord in so he can scream at i him in front of me like he did .The guy was even trying to get some to kick my ass,little did he know his doormen and staff were friends of mine .Nothing to fear just be patient with these jerks cause most back down thinking the worst ,eviction,money lost ,new place to live and all at once cause they know this plays head games and most swallow the sh#t ,it's when you get shovel's full is when you got to do something about it , "RIGHT" ?don't worry it'll never get to court if you let them know you don't "SWALLOW" !Maybe I shouldn't have put it that way if you need an attorney ,there not cheap and almost anything you need explained, or need to know will be provided by the court at the time you need one. Nothing unexpected will happen unless you egnore the certified mail to them.I'm "AMAZED" at how no lawers chimed in on this one .Good luck Lissa !:theyareon

 

[jejton]

Why not just go back to Cancun? Nice beaches, sunny weather and all the reef fish you could want.

 

[Cr@sh]

:tongue1:

 

[ellebelle]

Why not just go back to Cancun? Nice beaches, sunny weather and all the reef fish you could want.

Don't think I didn't consider it.

 

[ellebelle]

update
After scouring the internet for a better phone number, I finally called the building operator, who sent me to the landlord operator, who sent me to a lawyer in legal who sent me to her assistant who told me that they got my lease renewal and my account has been cleared up.

:irked:

 

[NYPDFrogman]

Glad to hear that got cleared up! is the building owned by Maxwell Smart?

 

[ellebelle]

Ha. That would at least be a good story.