Oyster Bay, NY asked in Landlord - Tenant and Real Estate Law for New York

Q: Is it legal or illegal for a realtor to list apt for rent,while people are still living there(their lease is not up)

I live in a building managed by a company (although the owners of the building are the same people who own the management company)

Few months ago we noticed that they were listing apartments for rent on various websites but the problem is that people were still living there,they had no idea (their apartment is listed) and their lease wasn’t even close to being up

We even ask some of them if they plan to move and they said no

Some said maybe it was a mistake when they saw their apartment listed for rent

But it wasn’t

We realized the entire second floor was listed

And only one apartment was empty and for rent

And the apartments were listed for rent for much much higher price than all the other apartments in the building

Someone mentioned that to the realtor (that was doing the listing) and the listings just disappeared and he never responded and deleted all listings

But we have some screenshots with the listings

We just want to know if this is legal

1 Lawyer Answer
Steven Warren Smollens
Steven Warren Smollens
Answered
  • Landlord Tenant Lawyer
  • New York, NY
  • Licensed in New York

A: Dear Oyster Bay Tenant:

I am not able to locate a specific legislatively created crime for the events you described. You may report the broker to the licensing authority if you wish to follow up. https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/09/1507-f.pdf

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