Renter and landlord situation -looking for advice from both sides

Hi All,

My landlord just came up to me and told me that her daughter is buying the building I live in and she will be looking to create a new lease. She 'wants' to have things settled by the end of the month. I did ask if rent was being raised and obviously she couldn't tell me that it was, but it was a possibility (my interpretation: yes, but I'm not telling you how much).

I want to arm myself with as much knowledge as I can to protect my family from any radical changes. If anyone is familiar with the laws that control this (I'm in NY state, not the city) could you please point me in the right direction in terms of where to find information or what situation you have experienced in the past.

I will be conducting my own research of course, but I wanted to see if some of the knowledgeable people here might be able to offer something of value. Knowledge is power and I want to make sure THEY (my current landlord and future) are doing what they need to do, by the book. Being the only income for my family at the moment, I don't have much breathing room for a raise in rent. I don't have any intention of screwing anyone over, I just want to be armed with knowledge when negotiations start up so that I can protect my family.

If you have a current lease, the landlord cannot forcibly change it. They can give you a new lease at the end of the term. Otherwise, I would expect that if you are month to month, that there are limitations for timing.

Do a search on landlord tenant laws for New York.

Here is a quick link although I don't know if is is only for the city or state:

Landlord.com Legal Center New York

Precisely right! That's the point of a lease. How much longer do you have on yours?

Thanks for the responses so far. So I got back home and dug up my lease. After blowing the dust off I recalled that I am on a 3 month cycle. Unfortunately, my copy does not have the date! Fortunately, I do know that it was in Feb and I'm positive my landlord has records indicating that I moved in for the month of Feb (a few years ago).

So with this, my landlord really can't re-write the new lease and have it ready for the end of the month. She and I would have to wait until the next month. Thanks for the link Steve I'll be skimming through that one. I also found this one here that I'll skim through as well.

For some reason I'm nervous about this.

I may be mistaken, but from the info you presented it sounds like your original lease expired awhile ago. In many states if you continue to pay rent without renewing the lease, it is assumed you are on a month to month contract.(I don't know NY laws though)

I suggest brushing up on those landlord/tenant laws. Be armed with knowledge on whats allowed and not allowed on the lease by your state laws. When I rented my last apartment, I failed to do this. Had I done so, I could have either gone to another complex or asked them to remove the clause that conflicted with my state. With knowledge of the rules it makes it much easier to bargain. I think that will also take the nervousness out. She may not know the rules herself if she is a first time owner.

Also, there are lots of tenant advocacy groups out there. Some have bogus info, but many can at least get you searching in the right direction.

Well my new land lord called and is coming by this Friday to inspect the place and go over the new lease. She claims our old lease is automatically void because of the change of ownership.

She has me nervous that my rent will be jacked more than 100 bucks a month. Right now my family and I are a one income family. IMHO she would have to be a really greedy person to hit us with such an increase.

To the landlords here: what is your policy on raising rents, be it a new property or one that you've owned awhile?

False.

I believe some landlord's in my area go by 5% annual increase on the free market apt's if you sign a 2-year lease.

Btw, what part of NY are you in? Hope it all pans out for you and your family.

I live in upstate NY - north of the Adirondacks, near the border to Canada.

I've been looking at a few sites but I have had a lot of dry language to skim through. It's not like any site out there really answers my question directly. Also, I've found a lot of sites with broken links. Still on the search though....

I'm thinking of calling my State attorney's office about this.

Hey Webjunky:

I'm a landlord in upstate NY. Well...downstate upstate. For those of you who aren't familiar with NYS, anything that isn't NY City is "upstate", even if it is on the PA (southern) border.

I'll agree...if you have a lease in place, it can't be re-written just because a new landlord is coming into existance. A new landlord has to take over the existing leases.

But...if your lease is as old as it sounds, it has probably converted to a month-to-month rental status. If that's the case, the landlord will likely have to give you 30 days notice before increasing the rent.

The bigger question is related to what is fair. If you've been there for over a year without an increase, then an increase should be considered fair -- assuming the place is being kept up. I normally increase 3-5% per year, to cover taxes, utilities, etc.

To take another track, is there something you can do to avoid the increase? First, winter is a lousy time for a vacancy, especially in northern upstate NY. People don't like to move then. Convincing the buyer to hold the rent at the current amount for a short time should be easy, providing you set a future firm date for the increase -- say June.

You can also offer to provide a service in lieu of the increase. Shovel the sidewalks, mow the lawns, show other apartments to potential buyers. All these things provide value to a landlord, and most would be willing to negotiate the rent in return for these services.

I hope this helps you out.

Sounds like your new landlord doesn't have a clue about being a landlord. You can't just void contracts and make changes because you feel like it. There are laws and regs to follow.

Don't let her run roughshot over you ... you have rights and in NYS, I'd bet they are all favorable to the renter.

Arm yourself with this knowledge before you play ball. I'd starrt with "New York Landlord Laws" as a Google search and similar.

Good luck and keep us posted how this turns out.

Webjunky,

I will normally raise rents 5% a year. When I buy a building and inherit tenants I will usually wait untill the old lease expires to make changes. Just because a building was sold does not change your lease. It is transferred at settlement.

In most cases however, I buy buildings and the rent and lease was let go for a long period of time. Which would put the tenants in a month to month situation. Then in most states a 30 day notice can be given and changes would occur.

My personal thought is- the Mother already told her daughter what kind of tenant you are. Based on that and what your rent is; they may want to keep you and do a small increase or jack up the rent really high so you will move.

So , if you are on a month to month which it sounds like, they have to give you at least 30 days for any changes to take effect.

P.S. you say greedy when you are talking about putting the rent up. It is business for them! People don't buy properties to make friends they buy properties to make money.

Play it safe and buy a house, rates are great...

M&T...

Sounds to me like you could get a rent increase with a 30 day notice. From the above info this sounds legal and fair.

You might want to consider this as an opportunity and not a problem. The current economic situation might permit you to get a better place for the same price or to actually save money by moving.

In any case, just clearing out clutter might give you a great start to help you reach your goals this new year coming up...

As a landlord, I am concerned about vacancies more than ever (been a landlord for over 10 years!).

Good luck!

Every city or county should have a landlord/tenant rights pamphlet. Your current lease should be good until it expires and I do not think you are required to resign the lease unless it is voluntarily on your part. It does not matter who acquires the property. The lease you have with the orginal owner should be valid until it expires. I own apartment complexes in different cities and states and most of them are similar except when it comes to eviction processes. Tenants have tons of rights when you have a proper lease secured. It took me over a year sometimes to evict a nonpayer in certain cities.

It is a Godsend to have a good tenant who pays their rents on time. It is tough to give senior citizens or tenants on a fixed income raises. The most I raise is ten dollars unless it is a deluxe unit which has been completely renovated, then it might be fifty to a hundred dollars; but that includes blinds, dishwashers, jacuzzi tub, and built in microwave.

I certainly agree with you. See, I expect a rent increase, but my reference to greed stems from my fear of a 20 percent increase or more. An increase like that takes a lot to adjust to when you are a single income family. And ultimately, I simply want to protect myself with the laws that are in my state. For instance, if she tells me I have to pay more, but I have to get a 30 day warning, then I will want the 30 days. No questions asked.

I am wondering if my landlord, in telling me about the ownership change, can try to declare that as my 30 day warning. I will be looking into this specifically.

And I just reread my last post.

"An increase like that takes a lot to adjust to when you are a single income family."


I refuse to confine myself to that mentality. We can adjust to whatever circumstances come our way.

Thanks for all the replies.

Here is some verbage from my lease:

We moved in on Feb, three years ago. So according to this verbage, my lease doesn't run out until the end of January so I should not be signing a new lease when she visits in the AM....

Obviously you don't need to sign the lease. You have the option to review the rental amount they are proposing and compare it to other rents in your area. Then make a decision.

Be nice when they bring you the lease and inform them that you need time to think it over.

Have they given you an indication of the new rent amount yet?

No indication has been made of what the rent increase will be like. And thanks for the positive affirmation that nothing will blow up tomorrow. It's common sense and obvious, but my anxious mind needed to be reminded that the lease does not HAVE to be signed. I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow.

It went well.

To my surprise, NO RENT INCREASE and only a couple of changes from my original lease.

Can I say it again? No rent increase. I'm really surprised at this one.