We've officially been priced out :( Going away party?

I've been living at 4th and 20th for over ten years, in a 2BR. Started out at $600 and last year it had only gone up to $950. (I live alone, and don't really need the space but why not?) Well, this year he raised the rent to $1450 and it's clear that next year he wants to go over $2000. And right after the rent increase, I got bedbugs.

So I am officially OVER New York City and am moving to Seattle, probably by late October. Anybody have tips on breaking the lease? Of course the greedy landlord wants to "renovate" and charge even more so he'll probably be glad to get rid of me. But I'm still a little nervous - what if I need him as a reference later?

magic1 wrote: I've been living at 4th and 20th for over ten years, in a 2BR. Started out at $600 and last year it had only gone up to $950. (I live alone, and don't really need the space but why not?) Well, this year he raised the rent to $1450 and it's clear that next year he wants to go over $2000. And right after the rent increase, I got bedbugs.

So I am officially OVER New York City and am moving to Seattle, probably by late October. Anybody have tips on breaking the lease? Of course the greedy landlord wants to "renovate" and charge even more so he'll probably be glad to get rid of me. But I'm still a little nervous - what if I need him as a reference later?

couldn't you break the lease because of bedbugs? habitable clause or something like that . . .

Yeah, maybe...but how far in advance do I tell him? I fear shananigans like someone else posted about, maybe he would try to evict me or lock me out or something? I'd rather not even give him 30 days notice. Plus my lease is not up until May 2009 so I'd be leaving VERY early.

I know I'm being paranoid (bedbugs do that to you)....he'd probably be THRILLED to get rid of a tenant paying $1450 when he thinks he can get over $2000, right?

magic1 wrote: Yeah, maybe...but how far in advance do I tell him? I fear shananigans like someone else posted about, maybe he would try to evict me or lock me out or something? I'd rather not even give him 30 days notice. Plus my lease is not up until May 2009 so I'd be leaving VERY early.

I know I'm being paranoid (bedbugs do that to you)....he'd probably be THRILLED to get rid of a tenant paying $1450 when he thinks he can get over $2000, right?

dude, you can't just leave in the night if you're worried about your reference, or your deposit
30 days notice (or more) is not unreasonable

magic1 wrote: Yeah, maybe...but how far in advance do I tell him? I fear shananigans like someone else posted about, maybe he would try to evict me or lock me out or something? I'd rather not even give him 30 days notice. Plus my lease is not up until May 2009 so I'd be leaving VERY early.

I know I'm being paranoid (bedbugs do that to you)....he'd probably be THRILLED to get rid of a tenant paying $1450 when he thinks he can get over $2000, right?

I would take the bedbug route first. Tell him he is required to pay for extermination, and don't pay rent for September. If he doesn't do anything, leave at the end of September.

If he does exterminate, you may want to try just asking if you can get out of the lease early.

Carmen wrote: [quote=gretch]I'd love to stop by, since I live only couple blocks away frin Battermilk it does not matter what time you start.

mm. battermilk. that makes me think of fried chicken.

Sh*t. I need some pancakes now. :chef:

caaahyoko wrote: I would take the bedbug route first. Tell him he is required to pay for extermination, and don't pay rent for September. If he doesn't do anything, leave at the end of September.

If he does exterminate, you may want to try just asking if you can get out of the lease early.

He's already had the exterminator come three times! Paid for them all but I just found out that the apt. directly below me has them too. (I found this out from the exterminator, not the landlord.) How exactly could I ask him about breaking the lease without tipping my hand that I fully intend to?

I have been in NYC for 18 years but this has been the only apt I have had the lease on so I am dim about these things :roll:

magic1 wrote: Yeah, maybe...but how far in advance do I tell him? I fear shananigans like someone else posted about, maybe he would try to evict me or lock me out or something? I'd rather not even give him 30 days notice. Plus my lease is not up until May 2009 so I'd be leaving VERY early.

I know I'm being paranoid (bedbugs do that to you)....he'd probably be THRILLED to get rid of a tenant paying $1450 when he thinks he can get over $2000, right?

I had a friend who broke a lease by leaving for L.A. in the middle of the night - it cost him a small fortune in airfare and legal fees to have to show in court and lose the case the landlord brought against him. Landlords have a pretty dim view of breaking leases without communication/conversation/compensation. Just sayin' is all.

I'd look at your lease and see if there's a section on breaking it. My non-stabilized lease tells me that I'm on the hook for the rent unless the landlord agrees to my breaking the lease early. If your landlord is truly eager to get a high-paying renter in there, he'll probably gladly let you end it early. Might not hurt to talk with him, saying something like, "I have a great job opportunity across the country, and am thinking of taking it. I apologize for asking this halfway through my lease term, but do you think we might be able to work out ending my lease on November 1st? It's 60 days' notice, which I'm hoping is enough time for us to work something out."

Or something like that.

And may I add: I'm so jealous! I've been working on my husband for 2-3 years on the idea of chucking things here and moving to Seattle or Portland. He likes the idea, but isn't sold on it enough yet to actually move there. Lucky you!

Livetotravel wrote:
I had a friend who broke a lease by leaving for L.A. in the middle of the night - it cost him a small fortune in airfare and legal fees to have to show in court and lose the case the landlord brought against him. Landlords have a pretty dim view of breaking leases without communication/conversation/compensation. Just sayin' is all.

it's true.... i'm just also amazed at stories i've heard how people will *NOT* pay rent for months/years and the landlord still can't evict them. or how such people then end up with new apt's or do they - i guess - just leave town?

awww that sucks , i hope you and hubby one day come back!!!

armchair_warrior wrote: awww that sucks , i hope you and hubby one day come back!!!

I was kicking myself because we took this current place we're moving out of over your place, which had a vacancy at the time.

vanilla wrote:
it's true.... i'm just also amazed at stories i've heard how people will *NOT* pay rent for months/years and the landlord still can't evict them. or how such people then end up with new apt's or do they - i guess - just leave town?

well if the building has many violations and the landlord doesn't fix them and you end up in court on an HPD case, it really can go on for years and years.

caaahyoko wrote: Even that was too much, but guess what---

He listed it at $2300 and someone already took it!!! WTF?? Come on, a large 1br on 4th ave and 15th? Sheesh.

My friend's parents who own a building scoffed when I told them that Slope-obsessed out-of-town yuppies will pay anything to live here (9th St. and 8th Ave). One of their longtime tenants had just left a very small 1.5 bedroom and they were contemplating how much rent to list (the last tenant paid less than $2k/mo).

Needless to say, the apartment was instantly rented, effortlessly.. for 2,700 DOLLARS A MONTH.

It's almost comical, really. All victims of your own 'success' in transforming the neighborhood, lol.

magic1 wrote:
Of course the greedy landlord wants to "renovate" and charge even more so he'll probably be glad to get rid of me.

And of course it's the "greedy landlord"s fault that 'certain types' of people are willing to pay any amount of money to live in a dump on 4th Ave (which even the natives considered and still do consider a highway/dump).

When it comes to Park Slope rents, forget that whole supply and demand nonsense--what you're saying makes much more sense.

rtraindweller wrote: They listed it for that much and I sat and watched week after week the price drop another fifty or a hundred bucks til finally it went for $1950. And I laughed.

Wait another couple of years and check it again, I'm sure the landlord will be having a good laugh as he gets $2,500 or more.

As long as the long line of lemmings continues to march in, there's no place to go but up! 8)

caaahyoko- I am really sorry to hear you have been priced out of your apartment. $2300 for a one bedroom on 4th and ANYWHERE is way too expensive. Some of the rent these landlords are getting simply does not make sense. My LARGE one bedroom apartments on prime 5th avenue are all way below $2000. When I first bought the building I would have been happy with $600 per month...but 5th avenue has changed a great deal since.

Megan - your story is more heartbreaking. I would recommand that you look in bay ridge or bensonhurst. I have friends who live in the area and love the place. 3ed avenue has lots of nice resturants and you can find a nice 2 bedroom for around 1800.

caaahyoko- I would go to your going away party...but am scared ill get stoned.

Honestly, I don't blame the landlord in my case. I was just totally surprised that people would rent something at that price. I even said to my landlord, when he said what he was going to list it at, that that might be too much!

Guess not. And to clarify, he wasn't going to raise us to $2300, that's just what he's going to get from the new people. Our rent was going to go up from $1700 to $1900. Which is a lot, but nothing like magic1's situation. THAT is a wack landlord.

Don't worry, we won't stone you! Hell, if I can, I'm going to try to buy something in Bushwick while we're out there. There are good and bad landlords--ours was good, we just decided we were paying too much.