Newreeflady
New member
This situation is about to get ugly. I will update you when it's over...
OT: NYS eviction laws- anyone an expert?
- Thread starter Newreeflady
- Start date
Newreeflady
New member
... it's gonna be a while. Suffice it to say I am now home feeling safe in my home, but not about the financial consequences.
p.s. feel free to reply or discuss tenancy, etc, in NY (like the title of the thread says)... but I should probably refrain from replying until this has all blown over and the consequences are clear. Thanks, guys.
Newreeflady
New member
update:
update:
I had no legal ground to stand on here, but I felt unsafe and I decided that, even knowing the laws, my safety was paramount: I resorted to self-help methods (lock-out).
There was some limbo, and several police visits. I did not let them in, nor the tenant. I called my management company also, as I didn't have a legal contract with this guy, but since I didn't know that going in I was hoping they would help me. They did.
Somehow they got this guy to agree to take his things and his money and be done with it, and the police witnessed this verbal agreement: It rendered our contract null and void. The guy had a machete, real handcuffs, and a gun case with leather gloves on top of it. The police didn't seem on my side until they found a loaded shotgun in his possession- the cop was ****ed! Apparently you can't have a loaded weapon without a permit, you are supposed to keep the ammo separate from the weapon. The cop had asked to check the gun and the tenant handed it to him, loaded!
Aftermath: This guy was peeing in jugs in his room, and conditions were absolutely perfect for rodent infestation (I almost threw up when I was cleaning his room out, and he'd only been here 3 weeks!) I did quite a cleaning job on this place. New tenant (female student) moves in today. The check I wrote the previous tenant cleared.
----
What have we learned:
1. Unless you have been outright threatened, feeling threatened is not legal grounds enough to evict.
2. Don't room with someone who could easily over-power you.
3. A year lease is honestly not always in a landlord's interest. This place has no trouble renting (found a new tenant within 10 minutes of listing it.) My new tenant's lease starts with a 3 month term (she's a student, so I gave her this), then goes month-to-month with a definitive end date.
4. Follow your gut if you don't feel safe. You may be wrong, but what if you're not?! This guy is a psycho!
So, I have no idea if this guy will come back and sue me, or if he has grounds at this point, but at least I can sleep at night.
-A
update:
I had no legal ground to stand on here, but I felt unsafe and I decided that, even knowing the laws, my safety was paramount: I resorted to self-help methods (lock-out).
There was some limbo, and several police visits. I did not let them in, nor the tenant. I called my management company also, as I didn't have a legal contract with this guy, but since I didn't know that going in I was hoping they would help me. They did.
Somehow they got this guy to agree to take his things and his money and be done with it, and the police witnessed this verbal agreement: It rendered our contract null and void. The guy had a machete, real handcuffs, and a gun case with leather gloves on top of it. The police didn't seem on my side until they found a loaded shotgun in his possession- the cop was ****ed! Apparently you can't have a loaded weapon without a permit, you are supposed to keep the ammo separate from the weapon. The cop had asked to check the gun and the tenant handed it to him, loaded!
Aftermath: This guy was peeing in jugs in his room, and conditions were absolutely perfect for rodent infestation (I almost threw up when I was cleaning his room out, and he'd only been here 3 weeks!) I did quite a cleaning job on this place. New tenant (female student) moves in today. The check I wrote the previous tenant cleared.
----
What have we learned:
1. Unless you have been outright threatened, feeling threatened is not legal grounds enough to evict.
2. Don't room with someone who could easily over-power you.
3. A year lease is honestly not always in a landlord's interest. This place has no trouble renting (found a new tenant within 10 minutes of listing it.) My new tenant's lease starts with a 3 month term (she's a student, so I gave her this), then goes month-to-month with a definitive end date.
4. Follow your gut if you don't feel safe. You may be wrong, but what if you're not?! This guy is a psycho!
So, I have no idea if this guy will come back and sue me, or if he has grounds at this point, but at least I can sleep at night.
-A
aquadonkey
New member
Scary! Who cares if he sues - it's great that he's not there any more!
I think rule #2 is the most important here (unless of course you're married to him - AND he's nice
)
I think rule #2 is the most important here (unless of course you're married to him - AND he's nice
)
toddmh
New member
roommates always suck..No if's..and's or but's about it..My youth was plagued with situations like this,I feel your pain..But if you want peace,look for a place you can afford on your own..I learned in my late 20's..
Then I got married and now I have no choice but to love my wife and live with her
Then I got married and now I have no choice but to love my wife and live with her
I'm glad everything worked out ok. It was a bad situation and a good thing everything worked out in the end.
I'd just thought I'd post on the gun thing though. In NY, it is perfectly legal to keep a loaded shotgun (or any gun you are legally allowed to have) loaded in your house or on your land. Whether this is a good idea or not is an entirely different story. There could be apartment rules I guess. It is illegal to have a loaded firearm (besides a handgun that you have a permit for) in/on a motor vehicle though.
Newreeflady
New member
Thanks guys, I'm glad to be rid of him. I'm going to try not to put myself in any other situations that might get me arrested anytime soon. I almost had a record there for a minute! 
Nirvana,
The cop said it was illegal for him to have the loaded shotgun, so it's weird that you say otherwise. Maybe he said that because there was intent to put it in the car? He gave the roommate a lecture about it, saying if he ever dropped the case in the house it could go off, etc. I was in the other room so didn't hear everything. I'm not a gun expert.
Nirvana,
The cop said it was illegal for him to have the loaded shotgun, so it's weird that you say otherwise. Maybe he said that because there was intent to put it in the car? He gave the roommate a lecture about it, saying if he ever dropped the case in the house it could go off, etc. I was in the other room so didn't hear everything. I'm not a gun expert.
Technically he could have had it loaded walking out to the car, and then unload it before he got in. Who knows what he and the police were thinking though. It's generally not recommended to keep a loaded gun around (I always unload mine before I even come inside). It was a rule when I was growing up, and I still always do it. If it was truly illegal they should have written him a ticket or something.
I'm glad everything worked out. Good luck with the new roommate.
I'm glad everything worked out. Good luck with the new roommate.
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