My co-tenants moved out, I've been month-to-month. What are my rights? Do I have a say in who my future co-tenants are? (lease, tenant)
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I live in New York (Suffolk Country). I signed a one-year lease with two other people in July 2012. They moved out in July 2013. I have been living in the house by myself and paying my share of the rent and utilities as a month-to-month basis, as agreed orally with the landlord.
I was wondering what rights do I have now? Can the landlord rent the other rooms to anyone he wants without disclosing to me who they are prior to signing a lease with them? Does he have an obligation to ask me for my approval and that if I'm OK living with the person?
Now, all of the sudden I hear that 2 people who I have never met in my life, are going to sign a lease, pay a deposit and move in within a couple of weeks. Is this legal? ethical? Does the landlord have a duty of notifying me ahead of time? Do I have a say here on who will move in to be my housemate/co-tenant? If not, should the landlord give me sufficient notice so I can find a new place and leave?
I must add, I tried to find housemates and showed it to many people, but no one wanted to move in.
The other question I have is, can he or someone he designate enter the house at anytime, without any notice to show the house? I just found out that he has been doing that, entering the house I live in, and not telling me.
Please let me know what my rights are and I can do? I feel desperate, I just met one of them (as she was dropping off the deposit), and I cannot imagine living with her.
Give 30 days notice and move. That's your only option. You're lucky if you've only been paying your normal rent for the past few months, rather than having to pay 3x the rent for the whole house.
I had a discussion with the landlord when my friends moved out. He said I am not responsible for their share, just mine. Also, he said I can stay there month-to-month until I graduate in May. There were witnesses there when we talked.
I know the second part about him promising that he won't kick me out is not enforceable if he chose to ask me to leave.
I'm really more interested to know what my rights are as long as I'm here. And, do you have a reference for your comment? I really appreciate you responding to my question.
Thanks
I know the second part about him promising that he won't kick me out is not enforceable if he chose to ask me to leave.
Incorrect. Your lease expired at the end of June 2013. You're on a month to month so the LL can legally give you 30 days notice to leave at any time he chooses.
At this point I don't think you have many "rights" at all. You've not been held to paying the full amount of rent due under the original lease, you haven't had any luck finding roommates on your own so it seems logical that rather than losing all that rental income the LL would find tenants to fill the empty spaces. You're essentially now a "boarder" tenant, renting a room and with access to common areas.
As eevee said, you've actually had a very good deal since your lease expired and one which the majority of landlords wouldn't even consider offering.
If you're not happy with the upcoming arrangement then give your 30 days notice.
So, even as long as I'm paying the rent he asked me to pay, cashed it and never told me I'm short, I still have no rights as a tenant? That cannot be true, because if it were, then the requirement to give a 30-day notice to vacate the place would also not be one of my rights.
I don't think I'm a boarder currently, since there is no other lease or tenants besides my month-to-month agreement to pay my share, and this agreement was witnessed by 2 people when we talked. Also, I'm paid until the end of Nov.
For argument sake, let's assume that I was paying the full rent and I was still on a month-to-month. How would that change the situation in regards to my rights (getting notice prior to entry, having a say on who moves in....)?
Finally, I paid the rent for Oct already, and I paid last month's rent when I moved in. So, I'm paid till end of Nov. How would this fact play in the two scenarios below:
1) If the LL changes his mind and wants me to leave in 30 days or so..
2) I decide to leave in 30 days or so.
P.S.
I'm sorry, I think I wasn't clear about the part you quoted. I meant to say the same thing as you said; that the LL can ask me to leave by giving me a 30 day notice. This part I agree with completely and I know that's the law.
You have lived without roommates for three months. You could have posted an ad on Craigslist, so you could have screened potential roommates. See if you can get permission to place a padlock on the door to your bedroom, buy a small dorm refrigerator and bunker down until you find a better situation.
You might end up liking your new roomies....give it a chance before giving notice.
I took a lot of picture to show the place nicely, and I did post it on craigslist, post it on facebook, mass emailed my school's email list (like sending emails to ~1000 graduate students multiple times), I made appointments for people to come and see the place, I held "open-house" showings on the weekends. I tried, but no one wanted the place.
And I think it was mainly because of how much the utilities actually are. When the potential roommates asked me about the utilities, I told them the truth and exactly how much we paid for the past several months and what the average was for past year.
When we were signing the lease, the LL told us it will be $70-$80 per person per month. But it has never been below $200, and average is around $300-$350 per person per month. I didn't want people to move in and be as surprised as I was when I got my utility bills; that was unfair.
The thing is, I might be OK with both of these people. But, why is my LL avoiding me and not talking to me about this? I just want to know if that is right/legal.
Essentially, you ARE a boarder. Meaning, you are paying to rent one room (your bedroom) as well as renting the right to access the common areas (kitchen, living room, etc...). You have not been paying to rent the entire house since your lease ran out, so you do not have a say as to who else the LL can and will rent the other rooms out to. Think of it like a boarding house. Your private area - the one area that your LL cannot enter without your permission or reasonable warning - is your bedroom. The rest of the house is for use by all the renters (you included). Since the new people are not your friends (like they were from the original lease), you should ask for a list of written expectations. It will make the rest of your time there easier if all the tenants know what is expected of them.
But the bottom answer to your OP is: "No, you don't have a say in who the LL chooses to rent out the empty bedrooms to".
So, even as long as I'm paying the rent he asked me to pay, cashed it and never told me I'm short, I still have no rights as a tenant? That cannot be true, because if it were, then the requirement to give a 30-day notice to vacate the place would also not be one of my rights.
You have a right to give 30 days notice because you are a month to month tenant.
I don't think I'm a boarder currently, since there is no other lease or tenants besides my month-to-month agreement to pay my share, and this agreement was witnessed by 2 people when we talked. Also, I'm paid until the end of Nov.
If you paid through November then you're legally good through November where rent is concerned. You still have the right to give your LL 30 days notice come November 1st and be out by December 31st just as your LL has the right to give you 30 days notice by November 30th to be out by December 31st.
For argument sake, let's assume that I was paying the full rent and I was still on a month-to-month. How would that change the situation in regards to my rights (getting notice prior to entry, having a say on who moves in....)?
If you were paying the full rent you would still be on a month to month basis and the LL would have no say in your bringing in new tenants of your own choosing except to the extent allowed by law which would require them passing background checks and basically passing his inspection. You forfeited that right through your agreement with the LL allowing you to stay there paying only your pro-rated share of the total rent.
Finally, I paid the rent for Oct already, and I paid last month's rent when I moved in. So, I'm paid till end of Nov. How would this fact play in the two scenarios below:
1) If the LL changes his mind and wants me to leave in 30 days or so..
2) I decide to leave in 30 days or so.
The LL is free to give you 30 days notice at any time - as you are free to do also. Your last month's rent is paid so if you decide to give 30 days notice then you live out that last month's rent. I don't believe there is any point of law which decrees that if you don't use up that last month's prepaid rent it's returned to you.
I live in New York (Suffolk Country). I signed a one-year lease with two other people in July 2012. They moved out in July 2013. I have been living in the house by myself and paying my share of the rent and utilities as a month-to-month basis, as agreed orally with the landlord.
I was wondering what rights do I have now? Can the landlord rent the other rooms to anyone he wants without disclosing to me who they are prior to signing a lease with them? Does he have an obligation to ask me for my approval and that if I'm OK living with the person?
Now, all of the sudden I hear that 2 people who I have never met in my life, are going to sign a lease, pay a deposit and move in within a couple of weeks. Is this legal? ethical? Does the landlord have a duty of notifying me ahead of time? Do I have a say here on who will move in to be my housemate/co-tenant? If not, should the landlord give me sufficient notice so I can find a new place and leave?
I must add, I tried to find housemates and showed it to many people, but no one wanted to move in.
The other question I have is, can he or someone he designate enter the house at anytime, without any notice to show the house? I just found out that he has been doing that, entering the house I live in, and not telling me.
Please let me know what my rights are and I can do? I feel desperate, I just met one of them (as she was dropping off the deposit), and I cannot imagine living with her.
Here are some legal resources, as you asked for some:
On your original lease with the landlord, did it name all of your roommates, and say that you are all jointly and severally liable? Or did you just sign a lease with the LL for the rent for your room only?
If you were jointly and severally liable, you are incredibly lucky the landlord only asked you to pay rent for your room, while losing money on the other two rooms. Unheard of, really.
If you just rented your room from the landlord, then you don't get a say in who your roommates are.
Since you asked, if you were paying the full rent, then yes, you would have the control over who rents the rooms - as long as the lease allows you to sublet the other rooms. You stay responsible for the full rent, then you rent the rooms out and are the landlord to the other roommates. And then, yes, the landlord has to give you notice to enter, unless it's an emergency.
I don't think it's reasonable for you to keep your landlord to a notice schedule to enter, when you're only paying for 1/3 of the rent. Your landlord's been amazingly generous with you, you should return the favor.
As others have said, you're incredibly lucky to have a situation where the landlord allowed you to live in a home by yourself and only pay 1/3 of the rent. The landlord allowed you to try to find your own roommates, and you failed.
If you don't like your new roommates, you can move, with 30 days notice (as of Nov 1st - although you can try to work out a deal with the LL to get back some of the last month's rent, if you want to move sooner).
I know your situation is not ideal, but I can promise you that one day you will look back and realize what a generous landlord you had...once you experience a truly bad one .
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