All Forum Posts by: Lyle Cooper

A tenant recently moved into my NYC rental unit. He needed the pipes under the bathroom sink tightened up. So I went by yesterday and let myself in. Fixed the pipes and as I was cleaning up I noticed a crack in one of the sinks.  (bathroom double vanity).  I look underneath and sure enough it's cracked and water is running out.  

The tenant moved in 30 days ago.  After the prior tenant moved out, I went to fix a few thing and cleaned the apartment myself.  Which included wiping down the sinks.  I didn't notice this issue.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't cracked when I went to clean it, but I cannot say that with 100% confidence.

How should I approach the tenant?  I don't want to accuse him of breaking my sink.  But at the same time, I don't want to eat the cost myself.  New sink, replacement job.  etc. 

I think the first email should be a friendly one saying something like "I fixed the pipes and as I was cleaning up I noticed a crack in the sink."

@Greg M. Yes I considered that.  But the issue is I doubt the vendor would give me the access code.  B/c then they are out recurring service fees.  It is possible they never changed the access code.  I'll look into it.

Here's the whole story.

I had my first tenant move in Dec 1, 2018. The building manager contacted me and asked me to if I wanted to change the name on the directory to my new tenant's name. He never mentioned a $200 charge. I said sure. Name's changed and a month later I get a $200 on my HOA statement. I never got a vendor bill. Just a line item on my HOA statement. So I was a little irritated.

I contacted the vendor myself and they said the charge was $150.  So the building manager may be padding $50 onto the bill.

Fast forward to June 15th.  My tenant ended the lease early and I got a new tenant in right away.  The building manager contacts the vendor and had the name changed.  He never asked me if I wanted it changed.  So I'm a little more ticked off.

That's $400 in reprogramming fees over 1.5 years rental income.  

Now I don't want to make a big stink about this b/c in 1-1.5  years from now, I might need to sell my condo.  And the building manager plays a pivotal administrative role in this sale.

So I think the way I handle this is 

1. Ask for a vendor receipt for the intercom name changes
2. Instruct the building manager to get my authorization for name changes
3. Inform the tenant (in a lease rider) that there will be a fee if he/she wants the name changed on the directory.

Thanks for letting me rant.

I just had a new tenant move into my condo unit which is in a 10+ condo building in NYC.  Should the landlord or tenant be expected to pay for the cost to reprogram the intercom to his/her name?  

It's $200 according to the building manager.  I paid it for the last tenant.  I don't feel that's an expense a landlord should have to shoulder.

The tenant or the landlord?  Location is NYC.

I own a high end rental in Manhattan.  10K+  rent.  When I rented it last year during a cold market it took 40 days to rent and the number one complaint was  the apartment is too dark.   The market was not very good during that period. This time around I rented it in 8 days.  Market was very hot.  However same complaint from prospective tenants - the apartment is too dark.

Here's a description of the place.  1500 sq ft over 2 floors.  The apartment occupies the 4th and 5th floors. 10 foot ceilings.  8 foot wall to wall windows facing east.  However, there is a white building about 35 feet away from my windows.  So there's not a ton of light coming in.   But light does bounce off the white building and at certain times in the day the light peeps in from overhead.  

Apartment is painted all white.  White kitchen, light gray bathroom.  However I made the dumb move of staining the floors Jacobean (one stain lighter than Ebony) when I first bought the place.  The floor darkens up the place quite a bit.

I cannot move that building or reposition my windows, but I can sand and re-stain the floors.  I think a pickled oak color would do justice for my 4" wide red oak floors. 

I have about 5-6 days during which the apartment will be vacant.  Is it worth spending the roughly ~3K it will cost to sand and re-stain the floors?

Thanks Aiden.  I reread my lease and the lease has a clause for landlord or landlord agent's entry.

I am signing a 1 year lease for a new tenant for a high end apartment in NYC.   In the event the tenant does not want to renew the lease, I'd like to ensure my brokers can access the apartment to market the property for rent  60 days prior to lease termination at times suitable to both the tenant and the broker.

Additionally, if I chose to sell the property, I'd like to be able to market the property 60 days prior to lease termination.

Does anyone have a template for wording this with the appropriate legal language?

Thanks

@Steve Hall - I've read through my lease as best I could.  There doesn't seem to be a clause on early termination or breaking the lease.

This is the boiler plate I used.

http://juliannarealty.com/pdf/condo_lease_101.pdf

I have a high end rental property in Manhattan, NYC, . The tenant wants to break the lease early (6 months before lease termination). According to what I've read online, the tenant is obligated to pay the remainder of the lease term. Tenant's first offer to me is 2 months of rent ( last month, and security). 

I had my broker pull up the recent average days to rent in my area/ my apartment size/etc. Average days to rent is 73. Add in the fact that I have a finicky condo board when it comes to applicants. My fear is I go over the 2 month period and I start losing money.

Potential solutions:

1. Put the unit on the market and the tenant pays rent until it's rented. The tenant could end up paying less than two months rent. Win for the tenant. At the same time I'm not riding the risk of having an empty apartment. 

2. Ask for 3 months rent

3. Accept the 2 months rent, and have the tenant place a 3rd month of rent in escrow.  If it takes longer than 2 months, the tenant pays for the vacant time.

4. Reject tenant's request and have tenant pay out full term of lease.

Tenant and tenant's parents are on the lease as tenants. Parent's are not actually residing there. They are wealthy people. I don't think the parents want their credit impacted b/c of a few months rent. They are RE investors that tap the banking system for financing.

Here's what I've read in terms of landlord responsibility:

In NY the residential landlord has no duty to mitigate its damages and may recover the full value of remaining payments owed under the lease for the entire lease term even if the landlord makes no attempt whatsoever to offset, minimize, or cover its losses.

Looking for some advise.  Thanks