All Forum Posts by: Wesley W.

@Kelsey Breedlove  Wish I were in OK (anyplace else besides NY, CA or MA for that matter)...

The problem with that @Kelsey Breedlove and @John Weidner is that if your tenant of record vacates, you could be stuck with a personvliving there whom you don't even know their legal name (much less anything else), whom you don't have a legal contract with, but HAS FULL TENANT RIGHTS.  (At least here in NY they do.)

Have fun trying to properly serve someone living in your building whom you don't have any information on. 

I believe the date is correct.  It's usually the third Monday of each month.

The venue is as stated.

@Ronan M.  Sadly, she went to the police first, and they told her there was nothing they could do until he was charged with something.  They told her to try Family Court (whatever that means).  Apparently, the only thing he's done is shoved her (and I guess that was not enough for the police), but she says it is quickly escalating and there has been a lot of verbal abuse.  Apparently, he has a drinking problem that has recently manifested itself.

@Account Closed As I stated in above in this same reply, the police don't appear to be any help, since they're not satisfied, apparently, that it's risen to the threshold of their involvement.  She went to them for a restraining order, and they basically told her to pound salt.

I'm wondering if he leaves voluntarily, would having him sign a "return of possession" document be enough?

Hello folks!

Today I have an issue I need to leverage the collective wisdom on the BP forums for.

I have a terrific tenant (single woman) who recently asked for her boyfriend to move in.  So, I had him fill out an application, had them both sign a new lease (M2M), and voila!

Well, here we are a few months later, and I get a frantic text from her.  Suffice it to say, the guy has become physically abusive and she wants him out.  I haven't had time to dig in to the situation yet with her, so I'm not sure at this point that HE knows she wants him out.  So, here are my questions...

Scenario #1:  Boyfriend agrees to leave.  In this situation, can I just have them both sign a release saying he is no longer occupying the unit and he is absolved of any future financial responsibility associated with its upkeep, he waives any claim to tenancy, and she is the sole tenant with sole responsibility moving forward?  If this is acceptable, does anyone have a copy of such a document they would be willing to share?

Scenario #2:  Boyfriend refuses to leave.  Is there an easier way of me extricating him from this contract (and tenancy) without me sending a 30-day notice of termination to both tenants?  Could I send a notice of termination just to him?  Is there another option?

I'm trying to learn a lesson from this experience, but I am not sure how I could have done this any differently to avoid the current situation.

I've been putting the "move-in significant others" on a new M2M lease with my original tenant.  My logic is it holds them both financially responsible in case there is damage or a non-payment issue in the future with either or both.

I thought of just adding an addendum to the lease for the SO as an "authorized occupant" that I could terminate with a shorter notice, but I am not sure that would fly here in tenant-friendly NY.  I believe that any occupant is considered a tenant and is afforded all the rights and privileges thereof.

If I refuse to add the SO, then the likely scenario would be that I would (a) have an unauthorized occupant that I could not hold to the articles of the lease since they are not a party to it, or (b) the couple would move to a new place where they could both be on the lease (where, presumably, the next landlord would encounter my current situation).

My questions are twofold:

How do I resolve the current situation (and keep my original tenant) with as little hassle as possible?

Is there something I could do differently moving forward that could avoid this sort of thing next time?

Thanks in advance!

So, this hasn't happened to me yet, but I am curious.

With the advent of the passage of laws in various states allowing for the medicinal use of marijuana, I'm wondering how this interfaces with landlords and their leases.

For example, we have both a "drug-free" clause in the lease, and a "no smoking indoors" provision.

Let's say a tenant claims to need medical marijuana.  Is there some health care law that precludes me from enforcing the lease provisions? (ala the various threads here regarding "emotional support" animals)

Are they going to claim a HIPAA violation if I ask them for proof?

Again, just looking down the 'pike and am curious if anyone has any experience or insight on how this might play out.

 I'm a HUGE animal lover.  But this is BUSINESS. And I'm not going to let my personal emotions and feelings about animals jeopardize the assets I've worked so hard to acquire to provide for my family (which includes my own personal animals).

@Deanna McCormick @Account Closed

Thanks, ladies.  I like Deanna's tact a bit better; I'm worried a "blanket" letter to the building would cause undue consternation to my good tenants about their units being inspected.

What exactly is "excessive traffic"?  Do you have that spelled out in your lease?

Thanks again!

Hello All,

I'll start out with the situation to provide context and then follow up with my question.

I have a tenant who works two jobs and is seldom at home.  She is currently allowing her father to come over in her absence (to let the dog out, let's assume).  Problem is, I think he is dealing drugs out of the unit.  I have circumstantial evidence, which is enough for me to feel compelled to react.  Minimally, he is chain smoking marijuana every day, which permeates the entire building.

I have verbage in my lease about illegal activities, but I frankly don't want to get into it with them about trying to prove my case.  What I would like to do is add a provision to my lease that would address the "use" of the unit by those other than the tenants of record.  Does anyone have something they wouldn't mind posting that they use?

I have a paragraph that addresses "unauthorized occupants", but it only covers overnight guests.  This guy just comes during the day, does his thing, and leaves at night.  I'd like to tighten up my contract so this is not an issue in the future.

I think what I will do in this instance is send a notice to cure (citing "indoor smoking" and "illegal activities" in the lease), but I want to make sure that future contracts have items against the mere use of the unit (regardless of whether or not the activity is illegal).  She is on a MTM, so I can always terminate, but I just want to put something in writing for next time. 

It's a fine line between micro-managing guests that our tenants invite and the pseudo-subletting that is nearly the case at this point.

I welcome your feedback.  Thanks!

 They run a tight ship in Cohoes.  You don't want to get on wrong side of Code Enforcement.  The ROPs are tied into everything - police reports, school records, etc.  Unless your tenants don't exist on paper they are bound to find out.  If you try and circumvent their system, the fines for being out of compliance are levied on a per-day basis.

On a positive note, they've run all the slum lords out of town, and yes - they just passed a new resolution over the summer that raises the bar for long-distance owners.