My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: New York
A lease was signed by my sister for one room of a three room apartment that was converted from the upstairs part of a house. The lease includes clauses for utilities being included, but a $25 / day penalty if the AC or heating is on and windows are open. The lease also stipulates monthly inspections by the landlord for damage.
Since this was signed, several issues have come up.
1) One day the AC was on, the Landlord claimed a window was open in one of the three rooms. Instead of assessing the fee as in the lease, the AC was disabled/turned off entirely for the day by the landlord.
2) The landlord seems insistant on doing spot inspections, without notice, of the common areas far more often than monthly, sometimes multiple times a day.
3) The landlord now is asking my sister to sign an addendum to the lease, which she has refused to sign.
Also some technicalities about the lease:
The lease also contains a clause waiving the right to a jury trial in proceedings, which according to the NY state renters rights pamphlet, is voided by NY law in any lease agreement (at least for safety reasons). The lease does not have a severability clause - would this potentially void the entire lease?
Anyway, on point 3, would my sister be able to get out of the lease if the Landlord tries to force the new terms/addendum?
And what remedy on 1 and 2 if the landlord agrees to let the signed lease stand (I don't think they have a choice on that if someone were to go to court)?

