Month To Month Lease Question
A friend of mine has been living at this building in NYC for a year and nine months. The lease is month to month and the rent is $800 a month. She paid first and last and a deposit when she moved in.
Six months into her moving in the place she got married and her husband obviously moved in with her but she kept paying $800 and it was with full knowledge of the people working at the front-desk. Aparently they are not sure that the owner of the building knows about the situation. Then about 8 months ago her brother in law moved in. The husband and brother in law have paid rent with their credit cards for atleast 2 months each.
What she wants to know is that since it has been such a long time what her rights were and if the landlord can evict her or raise the rent.
I would check on this...however, your friends should have devulged ( in writing) the increase number of tenants to the landlord before anyone moved in. At this point the landlord can opt to terminate the lease or request more rent or just accept things as they are.
He may view how many bedrooms the unit has, do a credit screening on both of the men, among other things before making any decisions. If I were you, I would review your rental agreement. Sometime landlords address their policies regarding this...othertimes not.
I don't know if I helped or not....just my view point as a WA State landlord. NY may be different.
In Iowa...since the lease is month to month the rent can be changed with 30 days notice and the lease can be terminated with 30 days notice. As a landlord I would not trouble with the eviction.
In theory, on a month to month rental, the landlord can raise evict a tentant for any reason that isn't clearly discriminatory. And they can certainly raise rents just because they want to. Not informing the landlord that the number of tenants has changed, could lead to either of these actions. Either action would require 30 days notice.
One thing to keep in mind, NYC has a number of unusual tenant laws. Is she in a rent controlled apartment, a co-op, or any sort of subsidized housing? NYC has so many different laws and agencies involved in the housing industry, that she's probably best to take her lease and see an attorney to check on her rights.
Good luck.
[addsig]
She does not have a lease. When she got the place she called the lady up and then went over and paid first, last and a deposit and got a receipt for it. The place is a hotel type place, they rent to students and also rooms on a per night basis.
And yes NYC's laws are very confusing.
The best thing to do is nothing until the landlord makes the first move. It only makes sense for all of your unit's residents (both authorized and unauthorized) to be on their best behavior,follow the house rules, pay the rent on time & with good funds.