We are two months behind in our rent. We have been paying the landlord off little by little. Now he is threatening to turn off my lights and telling me that i have to leave in 20 days. We have been living there for three and a half years. He doesnt fix the apartment. I have mold issues in my bathroom. None of my windows open properly. and the ceiling in the hallway is about to cave in because of a leak that happend about six months ago and the light switch because of that leak is shorting out. I need to know what my rights are as far as this situation is. Im not going to let him stronghold us. We do not have a lease we are paying him month to month. Is this legal?
No. What the landlord wants to do is not legal. Turning off the electric – or heat, or removing doors, etc. – is a self-help eviction. To evict the landlord must commence a summary proceeding and obtain a Judgment of Possession and Warrant of Eviction.
Mike.
Michael Markowitz
Michael A. Markowitz, PC
1553 Broadway
Hewlett, NY 11557