What to do when you want to have a third roomate move in?

anonymous · September 2007

Here is a quandry:

My boyfriend and I moved into an apartment in Bed-Stuy. The place is spacious and has an extra smaller bedroom. Since we are sharing the larger room, we want to have a friend move in since it will make things cheaper for us and we won't have a whole room go to waste.

The question is fourfold: First off, obviously we have to notify the landlord, but what recourse does he have? Our lease does say we cannot have any sublease or assign portions of the apartment, but the landlord is free to waive that even after a lease has been signed, right? Also, can he raise the rent, since there are more of us (which would defeat the whole purpose of having somebody moving in? Lastly, does he have a right to do a credit check on the new person, even though we have already proven that we can pay the rent with or without this third person?

It seems like it should be a no-brainer all around. It ensures we have no problem paying the rent, it is just a wasted space and we are renting it to a close friend... Are there any issues we are overlooking that I should consider before talking to the landlord?

apollonia666 · September 2007

I'm pretty sure there are folks here who know much more about NYC landlord-tenant laws than I do, and I hope they'll pipe up and help you out. What kind of building is it -- how many units? I think that may have some impact on what you can do.

But I bet a lot depends on what kind of person your landlord is and what kind of relationship you have with him. Unless your relationship is really adversarial, maybe you should talk with him and couch it in terms of "We're thinking about doing this, is that okay with you? What do you think?" and see how he reacts.

Oh, and if he doesn't already know you and your boyfriend are a couple, keep in mind that you're protected from housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in New York state. If the landlord gets weird about your being a couple when you bring this up, PM me -- I work at an LGBT legal nonprofit and can probably connect you with assistance.

pitu · September 2007

the forums on http://www.tenant.net/ are VERY useful for the cold hard facts of NYC rentals -- your question was probably already asked and answered over there, or you can post a new thread

good luck!

anonymous · September 2007

The new person becomes a tenant of the landlord and the landlord needs all of that persons information; the new person can stay if you leave once they've been there 30 days. The landlord can prevent you from adding an extra person and can increase the rent as his costs will increase, providing it is not a regulated unit.

putnam-denizen · September 2007

Er none of the above (except the referral to the tenant resource) is completely correct. Look to your lease for restrictions, (the lease I had my tenants sign does prohibit anyone else but named parties from using apartment) and then see how caselaw has modified such declarations (through above resource). For example the fact someone has stayed in the apartment does not give him/her the right to stay, only the right to legal process in being evicted.

anonymous · September 2007

Oops my mistake, they can't stay but the landlord has to evict them.

anonymous · September 2007

Thanks guys for the help, that was really beneficial. I noticed the lease only prevents us from assigning or subleasing the place, so I think we are in the clear. We have a good relationship with the landlord, so I think he will understand and hopefully appreciate that we are approaching him first. Thanks again!

What to do when you want to have a third roomate move in?

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