need legal expert advice please re: can sponsor sell rent stab. apt and throw tenant

[go22]

What is the name of your state? new york

i have a friend who is elderly, in his middle 60's and retired and he unfortunately lives from ss check to ss check (and his check is not sizeable of which every penny is delegated to pay his monthly expenses). he just called me and is having problems with his cooperative building manager. he resides for about 27 years in a rent stabilized apartment and asked the cooperative manager to please have someone come and replace the broken glass on his terrace door which was shattered by the workers hired by the sponsor to do some sort of window repairs. the glass remains broken and the wind sweeps in even though my friend was compelled to personally measure and purchase a wooden panel to use against the terrace door broken window pane, and yet the manager is dragging his heels regarding sending a pro to replace the broken window pane. this has gone on for the past 2 months and also poses a security issue since the terrace is shared with someone not at all friendly or sociable who invites guests over and the drink themselves into oblivion then climb over the terrace divider and annoy my elderly friend. since my friend fears to leave his apartment unattended he has not gone out for the past 2 months. my friend told me the manager on the phone threated him and said "listen buddy if i was in your shoes i would not make any waves because even though you are a rent stabilized tenant the sponsor can still sell your apartment anytime he wishes and theres nothing you, the rent stabilization board ,or any attorney you may hire can do, and you will find yourself and your belongings out on the sidewalk", and then my friend said the cooperative manager yelled "so shut up about shared terrace concerns of security regarding your next door neighbor and his company who drink" and perhaps eventually your terrace window pane may be replaced, but if you continue to complain i promise you it won't be, and then the sponsor will sell your apartment and you can become homeless". then the co-op building manager slammed the phone in his ear.

Question 1)....my friend is very upset to say the least and asked that i ask if the sponsor can legally sell his apartment when his current 2 year lease expires in 2 weeks and refuse to renew another 2 year lease.
the second question is if the sponsor can sell the apartment and refuse to renew his 2 year lease don't they have to avail another apartment in the same cooperative building for my friend to reside in at the same rent he would have paid if he stayed in his current rent stabilized apartment, or could he indeed end up out on the street, and what legal recourse does he have thru rent stabilization if any.

Question 2)....lastly what advice can you furnish regarding the legal responsibility of the sponsor to fix the broken terrace door window pane. its the dead of winter and there is no heat in that apartment after 10:00 p.m. thru 10:00 a.m. that poor guy already has the flu and is literally freezing since he lives and sleeps in the same room where the broken window pane of the terrace door is situated. i believe it is referred to as an efficiency apartment and is one medium sized room which serves as sleeping and livingroom, and has an adjoining kitchen, and one small bathroom.

we would really appreciate your legal expert advise regarding these issues, and again as always, thank you in advance.

[BL]

[url]http://www.oag.state.ny.us/realestate/tenants_rights_guide.html[/url]

See :
warranty of habitability
Landlords duty to repair .
Retaliation.

Call your local Attorney general's Office for some referral #'s to call .
Explain the situation with the broken window and Heat .
He should be checked by a Heath Care professional if He's sick .

They should give you some agencies and numbers to call .

Also there should be #s in the phone book to call , like life line , Etc .

[You Are Guilty]

Also read "heating season".

As far as failing to renew the lease, that's a total crock. Straight from DHCR:

An owner can refuse to renew a lease for many legitimate reasons. The Rent Stabilization Code and Law defines these reasons in detail, including:

* The owner or a member of the owner's immediate family needs the apartment for their personal use and primary residence. If the tenant is a senior citizen, or disabled, special rules apply [See Fact Sheets on Special Rights of Senior Citizens and Special Rights of Disabled Persons].

* The tenant refuses to sign the renewal lease or Renewal Lease Form [DHCR form RTP-8].

* The apartment is not used as the tenant's primary residence.

* The owner wants to take the apartment off the rental market, either to demolish the building for reconstruction or use it for other purposes permitted by law.

* Three years have gone by since the building was converted to a cooperative or condominium, and the tenant did not purchase the apartment under a legal Eviction Plan proposed by the owner. If a tenant is an eligible senior citizen or a disabled person, other rules apply. For more information, write the Office of the Attorney General, 120 Broadway, 23rd Floor, Real Estate Financing Bureau, New York, N.Y. 10271.

[url]http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/ora/ora.htm#faqs[/url]

The landlord is also required to send a renewal notice 150 days prior to the expiration, not 2 weeks. Call DHCR and file a complaint.

[ENASNI]

Cool, I was hoping you would post YAG! I knew you would know. This post almost broke my heart.

[You Are Guilty]

Sometimes I wonder about NY landlords. Like a pane of glass is going to bankrupt them?

Anyway, if the neighbor is over 62, he qualifies for a host of other senior-citizen protections, not to mention becoming eligible for SCRIE.

[url]http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/ora/pubs/html/orafac21.htm[/url]

[HomeGuru]

[quote=You Are Guilty]Sometimes I wonder about NY landlords. Like a pane of glass is going to bankrupt them?

**A: yeah, and at times they are a "pane" in the arse.

[Ellerge]

The LL is probably being a pain in the arse because the tenant has been living there for 27 years without a rent increase.

[You Are Guilty]

Originally Posted by Ellerge

The LL is probably being a pain in the arse because the tenant has been living there for 27 years without a rent increase.

I suggest you read up on what "rent stabilized" actually means.

[ENASNI]

Originally Posted by Ellerge

The LL is probably being a pain in the arse because the tenant has been living there for 27 years without a rent increase.

[url]http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/faq/rentstab.html[/url]

Don't show your ignorance or bad side as a landlord ellerge, this is not rent control we are talking about.

And I do not believe you are in New York are you?

Come on now.

[go22]

thank you all so much for all the links.

sorry i could not post back sooner but i had a lot to do for my friend.

firstly my wife and i went there and got him to agree to come to our home for care. we then called a visiting doctor's service and they came. he was diagnosed with bronchial condition (thanks to the darn broken window)...well i was insensed so i went to see his co-op building manager and read him the riot act. told him i will be contacting everyone on behalf of my friend who is now incapacited thanks to no action to replace the broken window right for over 2 months, and no new lease. next day i checked my friend's mailbox and guess what his new lease was hand placed inside (that is what the regular postal delivery guy said since there was no postal stamp on the envelope). also a note to please call to schedule the new terrace door window replacement so i went in to see the smuck (and i use that term litely because he was so smug when we began but sure changed his tune). i said i am here now so get it replaced right now**************....in 1/2 hour it was replaced. the smuck literally kept falling over himself apologizing. i told him its not legal to threaten an elderly rent stabilized tenant and i would report all of this anyway, which i will. at least now my friend can rest easy that the window is fixed and his lease came. i filled it out with him and sent them a cover letter stating the information you supplied and that they should have sent him his new lease much earlier than a couple weeks before the current lease expires. i also filles out the application with my friend for scrie and thank you for that as well, and yes he is definitely entitled to that too. i know freezing his rent will help him as he has always paid the 2 year increases whenever he got the new lease. thank you everyone for all the links and information, and as for the next door neighbor's drinking parties and climbing the terrace divider i told him if anyone ever attempts to do this again they will be arrested for illegal tresspassing and disorderly conduct, and i told that to the building manager too and demanded they sent that idiot a letter to that effect. my friend is still filing a harassment complaint anyway with the rent stab board to have everything on record now.

one last question please: if in future the landlord decides to take back the apartment will they have to give another apartment to my friend or will he lose all rent stabilization rights? he is very worried about this and i can clearly understand why. i await your legal advisement and thank you in advance.

again thanks so much to everyone for all your great expedient replies and i await a reply for my last question above and any other advise you may think would now be beneficial.

my friend said to tell you thank you from the bottom of his heart. he has no one left from family and just a handful of friends. we are lucky to have him as he is a really great guy, and will thank goodness recover from the bronchitis.

[go22]

update: spoke again with rent stabilization on behalf of my friend and they informed us that if the sponsor takes the apartment back the sponsor has to find my friend an apartment comparable to the same or better as my friends current apartment, and at the same rent stabilized rent. that makes us all feel better. at least he will not become homeless so to speak.

his only concern is to remain in his very large apartment complex and not be forced to go elsewhere. i hope it does not result to this and he will remain where he is but receive all the services which are his legal entitlement.

thanks agian for all of your replies and much appreciated help. he is still with us recuperating, but feels much better now that we know exactly what his legal rights are and have already filed papers accordingly with the various agencies and rent stabalization as well just to ensure everything he suffered is well documented so it does not happen again in the future.

[You Are Guilty]

Glad it worked out for all of you.

[ENASNI]

Originally Posted by You Are Guilty

Glad it worked out for all of you.

Wow, this really makes my day.. YAG... you are quite the hero. *sigh*.

[LindaP777]

Another happy customer!

[You Are Guilty]

Originally Posted by ENASNI

Wow, this really makes my day.. YAG... you are quite the hero. *sigh*.

Now that I've done my one good deed for 2006, I'm going to go push some old ladies down the staircase in my building.