Please Help: Unique Tenant Situation

[Mary Schr]

Hi everyone,

I posted earlier but it didn't go through so here it is again: any insight or help would be greatly appreciated.

Here's my situation:

-I rent an apartment where I live with my family.

-I recently bought a coop apartment when my Mom passed away suddenly (this was my childhood home)--I have a problem tenant.

In December 2018, my Mom passed away suddenly and the owner of the coop wanted to sell the apartment fast--he offered private financing so I bought it.  I couldn't move in immediately (everything was very unexpected) so I needed a tenant.  My daughter had an autism therapist who came to our house from the city and she heard about the apartment.  She offered to move in and I agreed.  Since then, things have been nightmarish.  She has turned out to be a pathologist liar and just insane.  Among the things she's done:

-When she first moved in, she immediately painted the apartment and gut renovated the kitchen at her own expense.  She had told me she would fix things up and I gave her the go-ahead.  I had no idea she would go into so much work.  Her husband is a contractor and he did all the work with his company (they are very wealthy).   

-She fast-talked me into giving her a three year lease and a cheap rent because she wanted immigration (her husband just got his green card) required it.  I know this was stupid of me but I'm not used to dealing with people like her.  She told me it was only temporary and she wanted to show immigration that they had a stable living situation.  I did put a provision in the lease that says, "The apartment owner has the right to stop or alter the terms in this lease at any time with a 60 day notice to the tenant(s)."  But a lawyer told me this provision might not hold up?

-She said tons of racist things about the African American super, which made me uncomfortable, and she lied about the things he said to her.

-She keeps telling everyone she will live in this apartment forever, which is freaking me out.

-She didn't report a leaking toilet and it caused the ceiling of the bathroom floor below to collapse and I had to pay for expensive repairs.

-She bizarrely rang the bell of the coop board president and invited the coop board to "tour" the apartment so she could introduce herself.  As a result, I got hit with a bunch of fines for illegal renovations (which she refused to pay for).

-I got fined for other issues she's done in the building and she refused to pay for them.

-She always hangs up on me when I call her.  I've rang the doorbell and she will refuse to answer even though she's inside.  I needed her to sign some documents the management asked me to do and she will ignore me.

-She threw out a bunch of my personal property and then lied about it (she lies about everything).

Her only saving grace is that she always makes sure to pay rent on time.  She's made friends with the management and the board and painted herself out to be a victim because she did renovations to an aging apartment.  

She's insane and this is my childhood home.  I want her out before she does anything else.  Please help with any insight.  I know NYC is very tenant friendly and I'm afraid she knows how to play the game so I don't know what to do.  Does my lease provision work?  I asked her to move out in July 2020 but, so far, she hasn't agreed.

Thank you.