Monroe, NY asked in Landlord - Tenant for New York

Q: am i legally allowed to have this person here? is this grounds for eviction?

residence: house, not an apartment building- in NY

primary tenant: my father, name on lease, not currently actively residing in the house

myself: son living in the house, name not on lease

another person: living here for a few months, paying rent to me

i did not ask the landlord for permission to have her live here or to sublet

it was discovered that she was living with me and they sent me a letter saying i had to get her out in 5 days, since we had broken the lease agreement by subletting else we would also be evicted

does this sound right?

Related Topics:
1 Lawyer Answer

A: Dear Monroe Tenant:

Technically, your use of the dwelling without the tenant, even though you are immediate family, may be a breach of the lease unless the lease conveyed to your father greater tenancy rights than provided in the statute (NYS Real Property Law Section 235-f (https://utalbany.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Apartment-Sharing.pdf).

In relation to the five-day letter, no, that does not sound right. A typical residential lease for a full house would ordinarily provide the tenant ten days to cure a claimed breach of the lease before the landlord may exercise the right to terminate. If the landlord insisted on five days most tenants would walk away from the negotiation and not rent.

Fortunately, all breach of lease eviction cases are the easiest for a tenant to win in the local eviction court since all 'the law' requires is that the tenant perfects the cure. For you, that would require your father to return to the house.

Let me say this: If your occupancy were legal and not by itself a breach of the lease, even with your father not living in the house, the landlord has ZERO right to complain about your Roommate. So, I suspect more is going on than you say.

Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.

The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.

Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.