All Forum Posts by: Margharita Silva

this is a cute post. I would say maintain a  "friendly" relationship without being a  friend. 

@Mary Joe I am a relatively new landlord in NJ where laws are very similar to NYC and i think you are beginning with the wrong question as in you need to provide service just like any other business but unlike any other business you are providing someone a place called "home" so you need to understand that and treat a tenant not like a pest but like a decent human being - that said there a con man out there who will harass landlords or take advantage of tenant laws- the key to avoid them is screening. Not just trying to find them on FB and see if you vote for the same president but more like understanding their rental, job, income and credit history and know how to interpret that info. Hope this helps.

@Adam Lippa hahaha thank you. Hopefully this will be my last novel :)

hi everybody, a quick update: first thank you for all the advice here.The tenant moved out without any issues on the 30th and the new tenant moved in on the 1st. I did not offer her any incentives  and she actually said she moved out a couple of days before the 30th when asked before going to the apartment (so i have no idea why the back and forth about 30th vs 1st) Thanks everyone again!

thank you for the advice @Colleen F. i wrote her an email now. She is not very responsive but will follow up with a phone call tomorrow and keep the positive in mind. If i didn't have the other tenant wanting to move in asap i would let her stay there on the 1st .. I will try the sooner return of the security deposit angle if everything is in place on the phone.  I have a feeling her home buying might have derailed but if i knew this is why she was moving out when she gave me her notice i would have advised her to wait until at least she is at the closing table to give her notice because until you have your keys in hand a million things can go wrong with a home purchase in my opinion... so it is too late now, but i don't feel bad if she didn't plan where to go, she had a full month to figure it out.

@Colleen F. Hi Colleen, since i already offered the lease to the other tenant, I wrote her (the current tenant)  an email and asked her to honor her 60 day notice and move out regardless of the outcome of her home purchase. I explained it was too late in the process. I don't know what happened with the home she was trying to buy but since i already offered the lease to another tenant, I wanted her to leave and frankly i did not care because it is impossible to line up a home purchase with a rental move out in my opinion, she was trying to buy a coop and as you know there are so many steps and even if everything went well, she could be rejected last minute by the board for no reason. So in my opinion there are a lot of unknowns with that purchase between the board and the bank etc. and i didn't want to be on standby for it especially when i had already offered the lease to someone else because she initially gave her notice.. I don't know where she is moving and I wished her well and it was a long email. I explained to her that i need her to leave on the 30th so i can inspect the apartment etc and told her that the other tenant wanted to move in on the 1st. 

she very briefly replied saying "I will" and that was it.

Fast forward, about a month later, i asked her when exactly she plans to leave and she says she wants to stay till the 2nd because the lease expires on the 1st and sends me a picture of the lease. 

My plan was to clean the apartment the night of 30th (and do it myself). The building only allows move in/outs between 9-4 PM so i figured she would be gone after 4.  It is a small studio apartment and from what i saw there was nothing to be fixed. Everything that she ever called about, i had already fixed almost immediately so there isn't anything i have to replace or fix. She maintained the place well, i have to say. And the place was completely renovated and mint when she moved in. So nothing a broom and some bleach can't clean there now for sure. 

I will contact her tomorrow again, i think she wants her deposit in full and doesn't want to leave out all hostile so i doubt she will give me a lot of issues ... I know for a fact that she has family and a partner nearby but i did tell her when she would leave a month ago so i don't know why she didn't bring it up then... if she did Maybe i could speak to the other tenant and work something out. Like you said and some others mentioned i won't make this mistake again! Lesson learned!!

No the lease doesn't state that, as far as i know according to NJ law if you are in the property even a day, you owe a months rent, so that's not stated on the lease as such- it is state law - it is not about charging her for the night, she would owe a whole month technically. For me, if i was a tenant and my LL asked me to leave on the 30th a month ago and if that was not clear to me because the lease said 1st, i would discuss it with him/her then - BEFORE agreeing to it and would not make a fuss AFTER. Like i mentioned this was explained to her BEFORE. I see your point in terms of approach-  but yes i will definitely tell her i will hold her responsible for the move in fees of the other tenant if it becomes an inconvenience to him and the rent - and this is based on my overall experience with her. This tenant tried to break her lease last year and when i told her i would have to keep charging her rent until i find another replacement she refused, she decided to leave on an odd day (17th vs 30th/1st)and asked me to pay her a prorated amount back. Then of course i found someone and she changed her mind and that time i let her stay - I am going through this again with her after 6 months. So i had my share of her abruptness, yes, so I am reacting based on my experience with her, but your point is taken.

I have already told her about a month ago that i will need her to leave by the 1st *meaning* I need her to leave on the 30th - and i clearly stated this - so i can do an inspection and the new tenant would have to move in on the 1st in the morning. 

I asked her if she agrees and she said yes. Yesterday last minute she changed her mind and says its because her lease says the 1st. - this tenant has been super abrupt with everything, just like when she gave me her notice to leave and then just when i found a new tenant said she wants to stay in the apartment....  My question is if she stays on the 1st, isn't that technically when rent is due and she is liable for rent, if she really wanted to insist?

@scott 

@Scott M. thanks Scott I did write her an email and explained why i need her to move out on the 30th because the new tenant wants to move in on the 1st in the morning. I must have made a mistake on the lease but I have wrote to her about it to be clear. (Because as far as i know the 1st is when the rent is due so she can't really stay there on the first otherwise she is liable for rent, correct) Yesterday i asked her if she had already booked the elevator (because it is a condo highrise and she needs to book the elevator to move out and pay a deposit to management) she basically said she is not moving because her lease says the 1st (Instead of her asking me about it and if i did not have another tenant who is eager to move in 9 am in the morning, I would accommodate her) Communicating with this tenant has been a pain, otherwise of course it should have been an easy amicle thing to resolve. 

hi everybody, a quick update the tenant agreed to leave and however now because her lease began December 1st 2020 and ends at December 1st 2021, she wants to stay until December 2nd to leave. I have told her that a new tenant is moving in and that she needs to vacate by the 30th but she is giving me a hard time. Excuse my lack of knowledge but i must have made a mistake to put the 1st on the lease as the end date and not the 30th. Is she entitled to December 1st? @Colleen F.