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Notice of Petition -Smoking in a Smoke Free Apartment

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cabby

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

Hello,
I have an issue I am hoping you all might be able to shed some light on for me:

I recently moved into a new apartment with my girlfriend in NYC on Sept 1st 2014. Our building is a RENT STABILIZED smoke-free building (we knew that going in) however she had some friends from out of the country visiting her for the first week (one of them stayed with us). During the first week we received a call that there was a complaint about smoking in the apartment, we explained to the guest they couldn't smoke in the building. A few days later maintenance came to the door stating a complaint of cigarette smell, I said please come in and check (he walked through said I smell nothing) and that was that.

Fast forward to the end of the month September 29th I received a call from the management that a notice from the attorney to cure the issue was coming and this was standard operating procedure for this type of issue. I explained that we had a guest who did not know, and took care of the issue several weeks before but I was annoyed at the amount of complaints I was receiving because there was no further smoking in the apartment yet the complaints were still coming.

A few days later the letter from the attorney came with 5 dates of complaints of smoking... I dismissed it as I knew it had been rectified and no further action was necessary.

On October 23, I got a Notice of Termination in my mailbox stating that I had to be out by November 4th (two weeks?) because I had not cured the issue of smoking. Naturally I called management who stated they could no longer discuss the issue with me and it needed to be discussed with the law firm.

Then today we were served a Notice of Petition Holdover/Residential for November 25th (1 week). Here are my questions:

1) The ORIGINAL Notice to Cure (dated Sep 29) stated that we needed to cure by October 18th - we had ZERO complaints after Sep 29 (the call with the Property Management), the notice even lists the dates of complaints as follows: Sep 4, Sep 5, Sep 6 & Sep 9 (WELL BEFORE THE OCT 18 DEADLINE). How can they continue with this if there is no documentation of further complaints AFTER the October 18th deadline to cure the issue?

2) On October 14th my GF smoked a cigarette out one the street with a friend and then came upstairs (WE DO NOT SMOKE IN THE HOUSE- she is a social smoker), property management came up and said it smelled like we were smoking, I explained that she had smoked outside and he said EVEN if you smoke outside and your clothes/you smell like smoke that is a violation. HOW CAN THIS BE RIGHT?

3) Next week is Thanksgiving - we have both already paid for non-refundable tickets to go back to our families for the holiday: CAN THIS BE POSTPONED AND IF SO HOW?

4) Advice on what needs to happen next?


Thank you all this is becoming a pain in my neck, not only did we just move in and never smoked in the apartment but the constant calls and visits from property management to CHECK through our house for odors is intrusive (each time we have invited them in to check around and NEVER did they say it smelled like smoke), it has made us nervous to do ANYTHING in our house. A few nights ago we accidentally burnt a bag of popcorn, my GF started crying immediately and said we are going to get in trouble for this too! This has made us nervous to even cook dinner for fear that we will get another complaint.



Thank you in advance
Sincerely,
Concerned Tenant
 
Last edited:


Dave1952

Senior Member
What did you do about the notice to cure? I hope you did not ignore it. You should have got in touch with the lawyer, agreed to never have smoking in your apartment or found out what was needed to make this right.
It sounds as if you are ignoring all of the law firm's attempts to communicate with you and that they are moving rapidly towards evicting you.
If you wish to continue living there it might be wise to hire a lawyer to deal with their lawyer. This is going to be a moderately expensive mess.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
On October 23, I got a Notice of Termination in my mailbox stating that I had to be out by November 4th (two weeks?) because I had not cured the issue of smoking. Naturally I called management who stated they could no longer discuss the issue with me and it needed to be discussed with the law firm.
so did you call the law firm?



2) On October 14th my GF smoked a cigarette out one the street with a friend and then came upstairs (WE DO NOT SMOKE IN THE HOUSE- she is a social smoker), property management came up and said it smelled like we were smoking, I explained that she had smoked outside and he said EVEN if you smoke outside and your clothes/you smell like smoke that is a violation. HOW CAN THIS BE RIGHT?
I can't imagine such a rule but what does your lease say?

3) Next week is Thanksgiving - we have both already paid for non-refundable tickets to go back to our families for the holiday: CAN THIS BE POSTPONED AND IF SO HOW?
start with contacting who you should have already contacted; the law firm you were directed toback in October.
 

STEPHAN

Senior Member
A few days later the letter from the attorney came with 5 dates of complaints of smoking... I dismissed it ...
THAT was a mistake. You should should have put everything in writing. Now you have nothing that shows you version of events.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Your LL is going to have to show a court with proof that you did this , not just letters , even though your not addressing this sooner will not look great they are going to have to prove you smoked in the building and that you did it more than once. SO I would suggest you use the links above and speak to a atty. WHY because your LL is being a bully , asking the court to evict a tenant for some reason other than non pay takes alot of proof, EG they claimed you made too much noise at night , then if the LL doesnt have police reports just how are they gonna prove it? If you were vid recorded smoking in a hallway then LL would have a form of proof , but with out proof the LL will look bad in court and if you decide to dig in your heals on this make sure you show up for court and do not let the LLs atty bully you either , he is going to have to have proof or he too will not look good and Im betting they arent planing on you making them take you to court and having to prove this claim.
 

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