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  1. #1

    Default Landlord is Renting Out to Too Many Tenants

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: New York

    I signed a 1 year lease to rent a room in a house. At the time of signing, the landlord told me that I would be sharing the house with 4 other roommates. With 5 of us it is a bit unpleasant and feels crowded. Now the landlord is trying to rent out the attic to a 6th roommate. I feel that this is going to be too many people. If my roommates and I discuss this with the landlord and he proceeds with signing the 6th tenant, is there any way we would be able to break our lease agreement because of overcrowding of the house?

    If he is going to pack as many people in the house as he can then we should be paying less per person for rent. Do we have a valid arguement if we asked him to lower our rent payments?

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Landlord is Renting Out to Too Many Tenants

    An attic would not ordinarily be a lawful bedroom. You may want to check local zoning to determine the maximum occupancy for the home, and to consider reporting any excess or unlawful bedrooms to the unit of government responsible for rental housing.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Landlord is Renting Out to Too Many Tenants

    I'm not an attorney but I just checked the zoning code and I believe it would qualify as a potential bedroom. Do we as his tenants have any rights to say how many people we are willing to share the house with?

    This is what I found:

    A potential bedroom shall be defined as a room with a floor area of at least 80 square feet that can be used substantially for sleeping purposes, meets building code requirements for sleeping purposes, and is not principally designed for other purposes. To be a potential bedroom the room must be able to be accessed independently, not solely through another bedroom. Potential bedrooms do not include rooms that were originally designed as kitchens, living rooms, or dining rooms. Enclosed, heated porches shall not be counted as potential bedrooms unless they are disassociated from living room space and have close access to bathroom facilities. This definition is to be utilized with respect to the plans submitted for Certificates of Suitability. Where the plans represent differences from dwellings as they actually exist, it shall be understood that the plans as compared with actual layouts must be feasible as representations of alterations of the layouts and that the intention of the plans is to bring about such alterations.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Landlord is Renting Out to Too Many Tenants

    You have whatever rights your lease gives you. The zoning is what it is. I'm not in a position to look up ordinances because I have no idea what community is involved. If you don't want to follow up with local housing officials, and don't want to investigate beyond your gut impression that the landlord's actions are lawful, you are seemingly leaving yourself with the options of living the way you're living or giving notice and moving at the end of your lease term or, for a month-to-month tenancy, notice period.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Landlord is Renting Out to Too Many Tenants

    I've done rehabbing as a real estate investor, and there's quite a few issues involved in creating a "legal" bedroom. As was mentioned by Mr. K, it all depend on your local zoning codes.

    In my area, local zoning first requires to room to be located in a legally habitable area. For basements, it must be over a certain height, usually more than 7'6" with two egresses, and for attics and garages, roof beams must be 2x8, rather than 2x6, that is normally found in attics and garages.

    If the owner decides to legalize the unhabitable areas, into a habitable one, say in my case installing 2"x8" beams for the roof, then I would increase the livable square footage of the house, possibly exceeding the legal land/building ratio, necessitating variance hearings so neighbors may come to voice objections.

    In addition, some communites do not allow more than 3 unrelated individuals to live in one household to prevent the proliferation of rooming houses which your situation appears to be, and if so, is also in violation of zoning.

    As I cannot tell what the complete zoning code in your area is, in most places that I operate in, creating a room of at least 80 sq ft is the least of the problems.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Landlord is Renting Out to Too Many Tenants

    You may also want to check with your local fire department as there may be fire code violations. I know after so many people there must be a fire escape.

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