I sublet my apartment and lease is about to run out, what to do if she doesn’t leave?
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I sublet my apartment and lease is about to run out, what to do if she doesn’t leave?
This is in Manhatten I sublet my apartment that i had a 1 year lease for, halfway
through. The person that leased it is from a diff country, and wants to stay. I
told her she needs to follow the basic procedure and submit an app. The
managment company called and told me that she wont get approved and that
they think there is a possibility that she would just not leave theyve ran into
scenarios like that before. Since i am liable what do i do? The lease is up on
the 30th. Backround info, its a 2 bedroom apartment and the 2nd person in the
apartment is a close friend of mine. I can legally enter as his guest. Should i just
go in there and change the locks? how can i protect myself. i have a LARGE
security deposit im trying to protect
Asked on May 15, 2018 under Real Estate Law, New York
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
DO NOT CHANGE THE LOCKS: that is illegal and you could face significant liability for doing so. You have to evict her legally--through the courts--and you can do so only if there are proper grounds for doing so, such as her not paying her rent to you, her damaging the unit, her violating the terms of her lease; her lease being up and you providing proper notice that she must leave, etc. New York is one of the more tenent-friendly--or in this case, subtenant-friendly states--removing her may not be easy, especially given that you own lease, and your own right to exercise control over the space, ends in less than 2 weeks. You could end up being liable to the landlord, for not returning their unit to them, and to the subtenant, if you had given her a lease for longer than your own lease (since you then entered into an illegal contract--a tenant may not sublease space beyond the duration of their own tenancy). You are in a potentially very sticky situation: retain a NY landlord-tenant attorney to review your situation and help you.
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