The New York Times asked Real Estate Attorney David A. Kaminsky, Esq. a legal question concerning a New York City co-op resident whose neighbor has a hoarding issue.
Can My Landlord Put Locks in My Apartment That I Can’t Open?
The Kids Upstairs Have Cabin Fever. Is There Any Way to Stop the Noise?
Q: I live in a rental building in Harlem and have always worked from home. Since the start of the pandemic, the family directly above me has been home, too, with two young children. Now that winter is here, they never seem to go out. I can hear running, jumping and shouting. Normally, I’d work at […]
The Seller Reneged. What to do?
Q. My fiance and I were set to close on a one-bedroom co-op in Jackson Heights, Queens. Both parties had signed the contract. We had our mortgage commitment letter and had turned in our board application. We were in the midst of moving out of our rent-stabilized apartment when the sellers suddenly informed us that […]
Lead Paint and Babies
Q. My husband and I have lived in a rent-stabilized apartment for six years. Every year we sign a lead paint disclosure form stating that the apartment may or may not contain lead paint. Since we had no children, we never gave it any thought. Now that I am pregnant, I am not sure how […]
Dealing with a Menacing Landlord
Q. For 12 years, I’ve lived in the same apartment in a brownstone. In the last year, it seems like my elderly landlord has developed dementia. He began leaving me notices, claiming I owed him back rent. I showed him and his lawyer 24 months of canceled checks, but they began eviction proceedings against me […]
Charges for a Fixer-Upper
Q. My husband and I bought a single room occupancy building with plans to convert it to a two-family home. After about a year of renovations, we applied for a certificate of occupancy inspection, which turned up an outstanding $1,000 boiler violation from the 1990s, which we paid. Follow-up inspections found open permits and Buildings […]
Crack in the Floor
Q. My husband and I have a month-to-month market-rate lease for an apartment on the second floor of a four-story walk-up; a nail salon on the floor below is undergoing renovations. In the shower, I noticed a crack between the tub and tile floor through which I could see into the salon below. I have concerns […]
The Rights of Pet Owners to Keep Pets in Their Apartment
If you live in NYC you may have noticed the dog walkers on the Upper East Side, the Village and even in Midtown. You know, the ones that walk a group of dogs on leashes? Where do all of these dogs live? Who are their owners? You may not know that there is a body […]
Forced to Crank Up the Heat
Q. I am a market-rate tenant living in a converted office building. Instead of a central heating system, the building has HVAC units in each apartment that regulate heat. The arrangement puts the onus (and the cost) of climate control on the tenant. The property manager sent tenants a letter reminding us to keep the heat […]