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Tenant Stopped Paying Rent and Has Not Been Seen – MICHELLE’S MONDAY MANDAMUS!

August 15, 2018 This Q&A post originally appeared in July on the LandlordsNY blog, where Michelle Maratto Itkowitz is the "Legal Advisor". Tenant Stopped Paying Rent and Has Not Been Seen – MICHELLE’S MONDAY MANDAMUS! Hi, Michelle here. I am the LandlordsNY “Legal Expert”. I answer landlord and tenant questions. My goal is to post in… Continue reading

Types of Co-Living Businesses and How The Smaller or Medium Owner or Manager Might Encounter Co-Living – and What To Beware Of!

July 26, 2018 On July 25, 2018, Michelle Itkowitz spoke at a LandlordsNY meet-up at SmartSpace in Brooklyn. Michelle's topic this time was, "Co-Living Defined and Dissected - What it is. What it isn’t. How it’s good for tenants. How it’s good for landlords. And what its limits are." Here is a link to the full materials. Here is an excerpt from the materials: Types of Co-Living Businesses… Continue reading

Tenant Paying $4/Day for Rent Stabilized Apartment Makes $255 Per Night on Illegal Short-Term Sublets

July 22, 2018 This is a story about one of the craziest illegal Airbnb cases I have worked on so far.[1] In this case, the Rent Stabilized tenant, who had moved to Westchester, was simultaneously listing his apartment as three different rooms as short-term sublets. Indeed, he was simultaneously renting the apartment to… Continue reading Tenant Paying $4/Day for Rent Stabilized Apartment Makes $255 Per Night on Illegal Short-Term Sublets

Lux Apartment Turned into a Thumping Night Club May Require Injunctive Relief

July 1, 2018 This is a story about our representation of a landlord in a situation in Brooklyn where some entitled young tenants of a luxury loft apartment decided to turn the place into a nightclub.[1] Literally. There were a dozen wild parties in a six-month period. Each party lasted until approximately 6:00 a.m.,… Continue reading Lux Apartment Turned into a Thumping Night Club May Require Injunctive Relief

A Landlord’s Right to Access a Tenant’s Apartment in Emergencies and for Repairs and The Laws Regarding Keys and Key Fob Systems

June 21, 2018 On June 20, 2018, Michelle Itkowitz delivered an interactive lecture at a LNY Meetup, entitled "A Landlord’s Right to Access a Tenant’s Apartment in Emergencies and for Repairs and The Laws Regarding Keys and Key Fob Systems - Laws and Best Practices". This program came with a twenty-page booklet. Here is a link to the full materials. Here is an… Continue reading

How Rent Stabilization Coverage Issues Affect Value in Multi-Family Transactions

June 14, 2018 Michelle Itkowitz spoke at the Long Island Chapter of the Appraisal Institute on June 13, 2018, on "How Rent Stabilization Coverage Issues Affect Value in Multi-Family Transactions". Here is an excerpt from the materials: IV. RENT STABILIZATION AND THE NUMBER OF UNITS IN A BUILDING A. If a Building was built before 1974 and contains six… Continue reading

It Is the Lives of the Illegal Subtenants That Are Often the Most Impacted By Non-Primary Residence Cases

August 12, 2018 This is a story about another non-primary residence case. In this one, we represented the landlord. The apartment was no longer tenant’s primary residence. Tenant was living and working, very publically (tenant was a performance artists) in another state. [1]Tenant had simultaneously sublet the unit to three different people. The notice of… Continue reading It Is the Lives of the Illegal Subtenants That Are Often the Most Impacted By Non-Primary Residence Cases

Building Owner Absorbs Tenant’s Co-Working Subtenants and Business

June 10, 2018 Here, we represented a commercial landlord who had a lease with a company that licenses space to various subtenants for their small business needs. When the tenant was unable to keep up with its rental obligations, it surrendered the space to the landlord. The landlord then had to decide what… Continue reading Building Owner Absorbs Tenant’s Co-Working Subtenants and Business

Long Predicate Notices Make for Short Landlord and Tenant Litigations

May 27, 2018 This is a story about a non-primary residence case where we represented the landlord. The tenant had long ago moved out, and was only using the apartment for her brownstone landscaping business[1]. The apartment had been reduced to an office and a warehouse. The notice of non-renewal we prepared and served… Continue reading Long Predicate Notices Make for Short Landlord and Tenant Litigations

Altman Ruling Offers Clarity for Tenants and Landlords — Michelle Itkowitz Interviewed by Holm & O’Hara

May 15, 2018 Michelle Itkowitz was honored to be interviewed by the folks at Holm & O'Hara, the go-to New York City firm for commercial real estate investors, closely-held businesses, corporations and their owners. H&O wanted to know all about the Altman case, so we spent some time talking about it. Altman Ruling Offers Clarity – and… Continue reading

You Got to Know When to Hold ‘Em – Buyouts on the Eve of the Altman Case

May 13, 2018 I was representing a tenant in a buyout case. My strongest argument for getting the tenant a healthy buyout was based upon the ill-fated Altman case. If Altman remained the law of the land, my client would be able to demand a lot of money from her landlord in exchange for… Continue reading

Sometimes a Restaurant is Like a Hot Potato

April 29, 2018 Sometimes a restaurant is like a hot potato (or a hot dish of Aloo Gobi), passing from one tenant to the next, until someone is left holding the burning spud. We recently had a case like that where arrears started building in 2015. Then the restaurant was assigned to a new group… Continue reading Sometimes a Restaurant is Like a Hot Potato