Eduardo A. Fajardo's Answers

For a New York State tenant can the landlord who lives above the tenant install vents in the ceiling?

I am answering this question with the understanding that we are discussing a residential situation (inasmuch as a commercial situation would require a different assessment). The first question that needs to be answered is who is paying for the heat? In other words, is heating part of base rent or is the tenant paying a separate utility charge. If the tenant is not paying a separate utility charge and the landlord is installing the vents in an effort to reduce landlord’s heating bill then the...

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Commercial landlord tenant law NY state, tenant's right to landlord refusing consent of business sale

As always, the key is to think outside the box. Of course your lease has to be reviewed but it is not uncommon in New York City to have a commercial lease where the landlord has the unfettered right to deny lease assignments. If you as the commercial tenant have a real buyer in hand but are being prevented from finalizing a business sale due to an unreasonable landlord with a no-assignment lease provision, you may want to consider filing for bankruptcy if you are in a precarious financial...

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When does a commercial lease go into effect in New York State. Is it when the tenant signs or the landlord signs?

Most commercial leases provide that the lease is not effective until countersigned by the landlord. The tenant should negotiate a clause into the lease that if the lease is not countersigned within 3 days then the tenant has the option to cancel the lease. Or another and better option is to meet the landlord directly and have the final agreed upon lease signed simultaneously. And yes, of course the lease should be reviewed and fully negotiated ahead of time.

What can I do about my friend's girlfriend "living with us" arrangement?

In your first sentence you say that you are going to get another place soon. If your potential roommate does not consider paying additional rent for his girlfriend's use of the apartment then you should seriously consider not entering into a new lease with this person as a roommate because it is clear that the apartment is going to be much more than occasionally used by the girlfriend. If I were you I would enter into a side written agreement with your roommate with an equitable division of...

Not allowed access to circuit breakers what are my rights as a tenant

Your rights as a tenant include not having your essential services (such as electricity) interrupted. You are not entitled to have unsupervised access to the circuit breakers (unless you included that language in your lease) but you are entitled to have a problem resolved in a reasonable amount of time. What part of your rented space was without electricity? Was the whole space dark or a portion? Was your heat affected or is your heat not run by electric? Other important questions are...

Is the landlord responsible for snow removal?

The owner of a property is ultimately responsible for snow removal but this obligation can be passed on to the tenant if expressly stated in a lease agreement. If snow removal is not expressly stated as being your obligation in your lease then you should call upon the landlord to assist upon snow remoaval. From a practical point of view, however, if the landlord refuses to help in snow removal then you are left in a precarious position inasmuch as suing a landlord over snow removal is not...

In New York State how long can a landlord hold you to a lease that automaticly renwes on a year to year basis?

You should include the relevant clause in your question. The most you can get is a general answer without having a lawyer read the subject clause. And the general answer is that this clause is more than likely unenforceable other than creating a year-to-year lease once rent is accepted for the period after lease expiration. Meaning that if your lease expires 12/31/09 and rent is paid and accepted for January 2010 then a new lease term is arguably created that runs through 12/31/10.

Can a landlord evict tenants who were involved in an assault, victim also lives in the building and has a restraining order

It is fairly standard in landlord-tenant law that a tenant that engages in nuisance behavior such as the threats and acts of violence that you have described is subject to eviction. Eviction requires a trial and witnesses to show up in court and testify against the alleged perpetrators. Simply showing a police report to the landlord-tenant court will be insufficient to secure an eviction. You should continue to put pressure upon the landlord to pursue eviction of the nuisance tenant but you...