No Lease Agreement!?

[Kevin Stein]

Hello everyone,

What happens if there's no written lease agreement? I'm moving to NYC in a few months, and I'm talking to a friend about moving in with him and two other people, AND THERE'S NO WRITTEN LEASE AGREEMENT! They have already been living there for a couple years, and the lease ran out over a year ago. I've read that in NYC tenants can do oral lease agreements after the lease runs out, but only up to a year. 

I've been following BP for a while now and the thought of no lease agreement sounds absurd to me. So now I'm wondering, from a tenant's perspective, what's the worst that can happen? They could be kicked out on short notice, but are there other possible legal repercussions?