As a landlord, few things are more frustrating than discovering serious damage to rental property by a tenant. From broken appliances to holes in the walls or water damage, these issues often lead to heated disputes over property damage. At the Law Office of Seth Rosenfeld, we represent landlords in Astoria and throughout Queens County when tenants cause damage and disagreements arise.

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As a landlord in Queens, NY, renting to Section 8 tenants can be a great opportunity to secure consistent rental income. Section 8, or the Housing Choice Voucher Program, helps low-income individuals and families afford housing by providing government-subsidized rent payments. If you’re considering becoming a Section 8 landlord, The Law Office of Seth Rosenfeld will explain the important steps and benefits involved, and answer some common legal concerns our clients usually have.

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Landlord-tenant disputes are not uncommon. After all, there are bound to be disagreements among property owners and occupiers. Understanding the most common issues between landlords and tenants is helpful and can better ensure that all parties protect their rights and interests.

If you’re stuck in a landlord-tenant dispute of any kind, don’t hesitate. We can answer all your questions during your free consultation. Contact us online or give us a call today!

Non-Payment of Rent: The Big Issue

Non-payment of rent is one of the most common disputes that landlords face. When a tenant fails to pay rent, landlords may feel justified in pursuing eviction, as rent is the core of the landlord-tenant relationship. However, you (the tenant) might withhold rent for a variety of reasons, such as unresolved maintenance issues or because the unit is deemed uninhabitable. This often leads to legal standoffs.

If you’re a tenant and withholding rent because of poor living conditions, there are local laws that protect you. Many states or regions require landlords to maintain their properties to meet certain standards. If the landlord fails to do so, you might have legal grounds to withhold rent until repairs are made. However, it’s important to note that withholding rent can be tricky—if you don’t follow the proper legal procedures, you may face eviction for non-payment. On the other hand, landlords usually have a right to evict tenants who consistently fail to pay rent. But they cannot simply lock you out without proper notice and following legal procedures.

If you are facing an eviction, it’s wise to seek legal advice immediately. In cases of non-payment, courts often get involved to determine whether the landlord has met their obligations (e.g., repairs) and whether the tenant has a valid defense.

Lease Violations: Breaches of Agreement

Lease violations can lead to a variety of disputes. These violations can include unauthorized subletting, engaging in illegal activities on the property, or making alterations to the premises without the landlord’s consent. If you’re a tenant and find yourself accused of violating your lease, you might face eviction or be asked to pay compensation for damages.

However, not all lease violations are as clear-cut as they seem. For example, a landlord might accuse you of unauthorized subletting even when you’ve been allowed to have a friend stay for a short period. In such situations, you may be able to argue that the violation was either not severe or that you were not adequately informed about the rules. It’s important to communicate with your landlord when there’s a misunderstanding, and keep a paper trail to prove your position.

If you’re a landlord, it’s vital that you handle lease violations carefully. Before initiating eviction proceedings, ensure that the lease violation is significant enough to warrant such action and that you’ve followed the proper steps. Eviction for minor violations can often be avoided with a simple conversation or negotiation.

Maintenance and Repairs: A Tenant’s Right

Another major source of conflict in landlord-tenant disputes is the issue of maintenance and repairs. Landlords are legally obligated to ensure that their properties are habitable and meet certain safety standards. If the landlord fails to address serious issues—such as leaks, heating problems, or broken plumbing—it can lead to dissatisfaction on the tenant’s part.

Tenants, on the other hand, might try to withhold rent or seek legal remedies if their landlord fails to make necessary repairs. For example, if your unit has a leaky roof and you’ve informed your landlord multiple times without any response, you may be able to legally withhold rent until repairs are made, depending on your jurisdiction. Before doing so, you must follow the proper procedure—typically, giving your landlord notice and allowing them reasonable time to address the problem.

In some cases, tenants may also choose to make repairs themselves and then deduct the cost from their rent. However, this should only be done after attempting to resolve the issue with the landlord. If you’re in a situation like this, check local tenant laws to ensure you follow the right process.

For landlords, it’s critical to stay on top of maintenance requests to avoid disputes. You should be proactive in addressing necessary repairs and keep detailed records of all communications with tenants regarding maintenance issues. You might also want to consider conducting periodic inspections to ensure the property is in good condition.

Security Deposits: A Frequent Battleground

Security deposits are another area where conflicts frequently arise. As a tenant, you might be frustrated if your landlord withholds part or all of your security deposit at the end of your lease, claiming damages or unpaid rent. The truth is, landlords can only keep a portion of the security deposit if there’s legitimate damage beyond normal wear and tear or if there are outstanding bills that were agreed upon in the lease.

As a tenant, it’s important to request an itemized list of any deductions the landlord makes from your deposit. If you don’t receive this in a timely manner, you might be entitled to a full refund of your deposit. If you disagree with the deductions, you can negotiate with the landlord or take the matter to court.

Landlords, on the other hand, should be sure to follow all local laws regarding security deposits. For example, some jurisdictions require that security deposits be returned within a certain period of time, and they often mandate that landlords provide an itemized list of damages if they are withholding part of the deposit. Failing to comply with these requirements could lead to legal consequences.

To avoid issues with security deposits, both tenants and landlords should document the property’s condition at the beginning and end of the lease. Taking photographs and keeping a checklist can help protect both parties if disputes arise.

Understanding common landlord-tenant disputes in New York benefits all parties involved. It can help them to appreciate and work to protect their rights. Seeking legal guidance is always an option in this regard. For your free consultation, contact us online or give us a call today!

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Until recently, when a tenant died and still had a lease, landlords had two options: Assuming there was no family member with succession rights to the place, the landlord could either consider the lease terminated or they could allow the tenant’s obligation under the lease to transfer to their estate.

If a landlord chose not to consider the lease terminated, the estate either had to pay out the lease’s remainder or petition the landlord to permit the property to be sublet through the end of the lease’s term.

The Estate of the Deceased Tenant Now Has More Power

Under a law recently signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, the tenant’s executor (if they had a will) or personal representative (if they did not and one was appointed by the estate) can now simply cancel the lease by providing the landlord with notice and turning over the keys.

For all practical concerns, this makes it much easier for both the landlord and the tenant’s estate to move on. However, the tenant’s estate can still be held responsible for some of the landlord’s expenses. These include:

• Unpaid rent that the tenant owed before their death
• Rent that was unpaid between the time of the tenant’s death and the time of surrender
• Damages to the apartment or home that are beyond normal “wear and tear”
• Cleaning services and hazard removal services related to the tenant’s death
• The cost of moving and storing the tenant’s belongings, if the landlord had to do so

As a landlord, you may hope to never have to deal with this particular situation – but it’s a distinct possibility. Knowing what to do to comply with the legalities of the situation can be difficult on your own, particularly if there is no will, disputes over the estate or nobody to claim the tenant’s belongings. Seeking experienced legal guidance can help you navigate the situation.

How Does Transfer of the Lease Work?

Historically, under New York Real Property Law § 236, when a tenant passed away during the term of a residential lease, the lease did not automatically terminate. Instead, the executor or administrator of the deceased tenant’s estate had the option to request the landlord’s consent to assign the lease to another party or to sublet the premises. This request had to be accompanied by the written consent of any co-tenant or guarantor associated with the lease. The landlord was then required to respond within a specified timeframe, either granting or reasonably withholding consent. If the landlord unreasonably refused consent or failed to respond, the lease could be deemed terminated, releasing the estate from further obligations.

However, this process often proved cumbersome, leading to potential financial burdens on the deceased tenant’s estate. Recognizing these challenges, New York State introduced a significant amendment to the Real Property Law. Effective February 15, 2024 (under § 236-A) the executor, administrator, or legal representative of a deceased tenant now has the explicit right to terminate the lease upon providing written notice to the landlord and surrendering possession of the premises. This termination is effective as of the date the notice is given and possession is returned.

While this provision allows for the termination of the lease, the estate remains liable for any rent or debts incurred prior to the termination date, including damages to the property and expenses the landlord may incur directly resulting from the tenant’s death.

Can I Name Someone as My Lease Executor Before Death?

While tenants can designate executors in their wills to manage their estates, including lease agreements, it’s essential to understand that lease agreements themselves are contracts between the tenant and the landlord. As such, tenants cannot unilaterally appoint someone to assume their lease obligations without the landlord’s consent. However, tenants can take proactive steps to ensure a smoother transition in the event of their death:

1. Succession Rights: In New York, certain family members residing with the tenant may have succession rights, allowing them to assume the lease upon the tenant’s death. To facilitate this, tenants should inform their landlords in writing about any family members living with them who might be eligible for succession rights. This notification can help prevent disputes and ensure that the landlord is aware of potential successors.
2. Communication with Landlord: Tenants may discuss the possibility of adding a co-tenant or authorized occupant to the lease agreement. This arrangement, subject to the landlord’s approval, can provide the designated individual with legal rights to the premises, ensuring continuity in occupancy.
3. Estate Planning: Including specific instructions in a will regarding the management or termination of lease agreements can provide clear guidance to executors and family members. While the executor will have the authority to manage the deceased’s affairs, clear directives can streamline the process and reduce potential conflicts.

How Much Does It Cost to Transfer the Lease to Another Entity?

Transferring a lease, whether through assignment or subletting, can involve several dependent costs:

1. Administrative Fees: Some landlords may charge fees to cover the administrative expenses associated with processing a lease transfer. These fees can range from $200 to $500, depending on the landlord’s policies and the complexity of the transfer.
2. Legal Expenses: Engaging legal counsel to navigate the transfer process can incur costs. While not always mandatory, legal assistance ensures that the rights and obligations of all parties are adequately addressed, potentially preventing future disputes.
3. Rent and Arrears: The estate is responsible for any unpaid rent up to the effective date of the lease termination or transfer. Ensuring that all dues are settled is crucial to facilitate a smooth transition.
4. Property Maintenance and Repairs: Before transferring or surrendering the lease, the estate may need to address any damages beyond normal wear and tear. Failure to do so could result in deductions from the security deposit or additional charges.

It’s important to note that under the new provisions of § 236-A, while the estate can terminate the lease upon the tenant’s death, it remains liable for obligations incurred before the termination. However, the estate is not liable for penalties related to inadequate notice resulting from terminating the lease under this section.

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As a landlord, it’s inevitable that some level of damage or deterioration is going to occur while someone else is leasing the space from you. Landlords often take security deposits and to give them a little bit more protection. If the tenant causes severe damage to the apartment, then the landlord can take the security deposit to pay for the repairs.

However, there are often some conflicts between tenants and landlords when they don’t agree on what constitutes actual damage. You may claim that the tenant damaged the property and that it’s going to be expensive to fix. They may claim that it is just normal wear and tear, that you should have expected it and that you’re not allowed to keep their security deposit. Who is correct?

It can be a complex question

The truth is that this isn’t always as black and white as you would like it to be. Damage does happen in the course of someone living in a rental unit. Examples of normal wear and tear include things like:

• Scratches on the baseboards
• Discoloration on the walls
• Scratches on a wood floor
• Slight wearing of a carpet
• Fading colors from the sun
• Mild wear on doorhandles

No matter how careful someone is, this type of damage is just going to occur over the course of living in that space.

But where do you draw the line? Say that a tenant breaks a banister off of the staircase. You believe that this is advanced damage that they should have to pay to fix because they were being negligent when they broke it. But they say that this is just normal wear and tear, citing the fact that they always held onto the banister every time they went up or down the stairs. One time, it simply broke. They claim that you either didn’t maintain it well enough or that you should have expected this to happen eventually.

In a situation like this, you and your tenant may have to seek a legal resolution. Be sure you know about all of the steps you’ll have to take.

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Before you allow virtual strangers to reside in your property, you have a right to learn more about them. However, with modern privacy concerns, tenant screening traps may lay in wait. More people than ever actively protect their privacy rights and take legal action in the face of violations.

Compliance with New York screening regulations is crucial to avoid a landlord-tenant dispute based on privacy or rights violations. Knowing what is and is not allowed when looking into potential tenants can help you stay out of legal hot water.

Legal tenant screening practices

To screen potential tenants without legal trouble, landlords must adhere to specific guidelines:

• Obtain written consent from applicants before conducting any background checks
• Only inquire about an applicant’s criminal history after making a conditional housing offer
• Adhere to the federal Fair Housing Act prohibiting housing discrimination
• Apply screening criteria consistently to all applicants

Following these practices can help landlords remain within legal boundaries while learning more about prospective tenants.

Prohibited screening practices

Certain actions are prohibited when screening potential tenants in New York. Specific examples include:

• Charging more than the actual cost of a background check or exceeding $20
• Asking questions that could reveal an applicant’s race, religion, gender or other protected status
• Conducting background checks without written authorization
• Inquiring about criminal history before making a conditional housing offer

It is easier to violate these rules than you might think. For instance, if you use outdated housing applications or lease and rental agreements, they could contain unlawful provisions, sparking a landlord-tenant dispute.

Speak with a legal representative to update your screening practices. They can help you create compliant housing documents and offer tips for dealing with prospective and current tenants lawfully.

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If a tenant makes a complaint, be it a maintenance, noise, safety or health concern, you should be careful in how you approach it. Poorly handling a tenant’s complaint can worsen the situation.

Here is what to consider doing:

Inform them to make the complaint in writing

If your tenant calls to tell you about an issue they are facing, encourage them to follow up the verbal report with a written one. Inform them to provide in-depth details about the complaint in their email.

If it’s a dispute with a fellow tenant, ask them to include their name and house number, the name of the other tenant and house number and the reason behind the conflict. If it’s a maintenance issue, ask them to include their name and house number and in-depth information about the needed maintenance or repair on the complaint.

Give an in-depth response

Upon receiving the email from your tenant, ask questions to ensure you are well-informed. When you are ready to issue a solution, send a detailed response to your tenant. Be empathetic in your response. For example, if they want you to repair a broken water heater, acknowledge the difficulty they may have gone through due to the inconvenience.

Further, send your response promptly. Taking too long to respond after obtaining the needed information from the tenant can make them believe you have ignored their complaint. If you need more time before solving the issue, let them know.

Implement solutions to prevent future complaints

If possible, implement strategies that prevent that particular problem from recurring, eliminating the chances of similar complaints in the future.

A tenant can forward a complaint to state agencies, including the Housing Court if you fail to handle the matter effectively. Thus, it’s vital to act quickly to save yourself from costly cases.

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You’re a landlord for a duplex in New York City. Most of the time, things work out well, and there are two tenants in the duplex who tend to get along. But this is not always the case, and you know that conflicts may occur.

For example, maybe one of the tenants has made some noise complaints. Perhaps the other tenant has a non-standard work schedule, so they are usually awake at night. Maybe they practice a musical instrument, which can be very loud, or they have a loud pet. As the landlord, do you have to do anything about these noise complaints? Do you have any legal obligations to solve them? 

The noise code

As a general rule, no, you are not legally obligated to do anything about these complaints. You should make tenants aware of the local laws and regulations. If one tenant complains, you could try having a conversation with both of them to see if you can resolve the issue.

But if that doesn’t work, then the loud tenant may be in violation of New York City’s noise code. This means that the tenant whose rights are being violated needs to make their complaint to the correct city officials. For things like animal noises – like an incessantly barking dog – the first step is often to provide advice or instructions to the pet owner. But if the noise complaints continue, then the government can take action to ensure that the noise code is followed.

Situations like this certainly can lead to complex conflicts between tenants and landlords. Those involved need to know exactly what legal steps to take.

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Landlords can potentially build their personal wealth by accruing equity in residential properties. However, every tenant is theoretically a threat to the property that they own. After a tenant leaves, a landlord could discover significant damage to the rental unit.

They then have to make costly repairs before a new tenant can take possession of the property. Landlords in New York can retain some or all of the tenant’s security deposit to cover repair costs when necessary. However, a tenant is not responsible for normal wear and tear to a residential unit.

How can a landlord prove that property issues are actual damage, and not standard wear and tear?

Some damage is standard in an inhabited unit

Tenants making use of a space and its amenities can cause slow degradation to the unit over time. Tenants walking in their own units can cause compression of the carpeting and the padding underneath. The sun coming in through windows can fade carpeting and paint inside a building.

Appliances become less efficient with age and may require repairs or outright replacement. Aging electrical sockets, peeling linoleum floors, mild scratches to the floors, signs of wearing on countertops and chipped paint also constitute normal wear and tear. So does the creation of small holes in the wall from hanging pictures.

A landlord is unlikely to recover the costs related to such damages because they are standard wear that occurs during occupancy. However, actual damage to the unit is another story entirely. Large holes or gouges in the wall, possibly caused by an emotional outburst, are not standard wear and tear. Neither is an accumulation of smoke residue from tobacco use inside the unit.

Broken windows, tears to the screens, rips in wallpaper or burn damage on countertops can all constitute recoverable repairs. Pet smells, carpet stains, broken faucets, damaged door knobs and alterations made to the apartment without written approval could all be damages that a landlord can request compensation to repair.

Documentation is key in security deposit cases

If a landlord wants to make a claim against a tenant’s security deposit, then they need proof of the damages. Pictures of the unit before the tenant assumed possession and after they vacate can help establish that the damage to the unit is relatively new.

Statements from maintenance and repair professionals can also help validate the extent and origins of the damage, as well as the likely expenses to repair the damage. Landlords have to carefully comply with New York rules when reporting the damage to the tenant and retaining part of their security deposit.

Landlords who learn more about security deposit rules can improve their chances of covering the costs of unexpected repairs to a unit. Learning about the difference between basic wear and significant damage can help landlords hold destructive tenants responsible for the impact they have on a space.

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A lease is an agreement between landlords and tenants. Not only does a lease establish the conditions of a tenant’s use of a property but it can also clarify expectations and responsibilities for both landlords and tenants. 

If there is a dispute between the landlord and tenant, then a lease may be an important document to resolve the issue. To help ensure a lease is clear, it should include the following details:

Names of occupants and landlord

The lease should be clear about who the landlord of a property is and who intends to rent the property. The lease may need to clarify how many people are intending to rent the property. Landlords often do this to prevent tenants from renting out a property themselves or allowing unauthorized occupants to overstay their welcome. 

Length of the lease and renewal options

The lease can include how long the tenant can live in a property. Some leases are month-to-month, which are renewed each consecutive month. Other leases may go for a year, which the tenant may renew after the one-year mark.

Rent amount, payment date and security deposit

The lease should clarify how much the tenant must pay each month. The tenant should also know when they are expected to pay their rent. Many landlords also require tenants to pay a security deposit with clarification that they will return it if the apartment is not damaged during the time of the tenant’s occupancy. Some additional fees may include utilities, parking and pet deposits. 

Termination and eviction policies

An important part of a lease can include what a tenant must do if they wish to terminate their lease and reasons why the landlord may evict the tenant. Termination or eviction is often a topic of dispute.

Landlords and tenants can benefit from reaching out for legal guidance to discuss a lease. Legal help is available for landlord and tenant disputes.

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