Landlord won't give lease due to an previous leaseowner

[KayNYC3216]

Jurisdiction

New York

I'm currrently paying rent in an apartment in Harlem of New York City where the landlord is waiting for the previous lease owner to pay past due rent before he gives me a lease to sign. I'm not sure if it matters or not but the previous lease owner is an illegal iimmigrant who is evading the police. Pleease tell me what should I do?

 

[d1amund]

Details missing:
What does the previous deadbeat lessee have to do with you and your tenancy?
Were you a sublet of the prior lease?
Is this a new rental / housing situation for you and if so why did you move into a property without a lease finalized?

 

[army judge]

I'm currrently paying rent in an apartment in Harlem of New York City where the landlord is waiting for the previous lease owner to pay past due rent before he gives me a lease to sign. I'm not sure if it matters or not but the previous lease owner is an illegal iimmigrant who is evading the police. Pleease tell me what should I do?

Don't rent the apartment.
The landlord appears to be evading the court system.
If Tenant XXX has a valid lease, despite being the subject of an intense police manhunt, he's still the lawful tenant.
He's probably gone missing, and the LL doesn't want to take the time to go to court to have him evicted.

Let's say Tenant XXX has a lease that expires on May 31st.
Despite the fact that Tenant XXX has apparently abandoned the premises, his legal right to it remains.
If the LL wishes to extinguish Tenant XXX's leasehold he has to go to Tenant-Landlord Court in NYC to dispossess him.
In NY, especially NYC, that process is quite lengthy.
In the interim, the LL isn't legally able to rent the unit.

What does that mean to you?
It means you shouldn't legally be in the unit.
If I were you, I'd ask the LL about all of this.

If what I've supposed is true, this is how you fix it.
Call the City's Citizen Service Center at 311.

This website can also offer you useful information:

www.nyc.gov/hpd


If I were you, I'd stay away from this deal and this shady LL.