My question involves a security deposit in the State of: New York

To start off,

I am subleasing a room out of 2 bedroom apartment. The landlord in my case is my roommate. The lease is ending march 31.

  • march 9, him and I spoke about the possibility of renewing the lease. At this point we discussed how the new sublease would be. Including him having the ability to terminate the lease at any time. I told him I understand and could accept that.

  • march 16, he shows me a copy of sublease he drafted up which includes that clause he can terminate the apartment at anytime, however that I would have 30 days to move out. I tell him i'm concerned about the timeframe in which i would have, to be able to move out. I accept that he can terminate the lease at any point, however the amount of time to vacate is another issue all together for me because i'm a student.

  • march 19, I tell him that I cannot accept the 30 day timeframe. If we cannot change that to 90 days, I will move out and he should make sure he finds a roommate.

  • march 23, My roommate tells me he is upset, and he now only has 11 days to find a new roommate and that if he cannot find a new roommate to begin april 1st he will then begin to deduct from my security deposit the pro-rated amount.


To my understanding, he cannot use my security deposit for anthing other than repairs or unpaid rent. I feel that It is not my fault he drafted the sublease mid month, and that we could not agree on the terms of being able to vacate.

Please share your wisdom or if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Thanks.