PROTECT YOURSELF FROM EVICTION
AND ILLEGAL RENTALS IN MANHATTAN

Please be aware of the following when renting an apartment. Manhattan housing consists of 3 entities of housing:

Condos, Coops and Rental buildings

A Condo or Coop is where every unique apartment has one unique owner.

1. Condos: ownership of the physical apartment in the building; owners of each unit pay common charges to maintain the building as a whole.

2. Coop: Cooperatives are Legal corporate entities where each apartment owns shares in a corporation (the building being the corporation) and the coop board acts and votes like a board of directors on changes/revisions to the regulations of the coop building. Rarely will a cooperative building allow less than 3 months rentals. Coops have maintenance and tax charges as opposed to the common charges of a condo. Traditionally coops have lower tax and maintenance fees than a condo buildings common charges; thus condos traditionally are more expensive.

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3. Rental buildings: One owner owns every single apartment in the building and he/she alone decides how apartments will be rented in their building.

Sublets are tenants in any of the above options, who have rented an apartment from the primary lease holder or owner.

Renting Short-term (1 month - 1 year or less) in a Condo/Coop:

-Condo and coop buildings all have condo and coop laws outlining rental regulations. 99% of condo and coops buildings prevent rentals/sublets for less than 3 months.

-The building management firms of condo and coops have the leasing outlines of any apartment and the condo and coop laws.

-Any rental less than 3 months will most likely not allow you to check option A, B or C and thus will be considered an illegal rental.

-There is never a (1) single owner of the whole building. All units are separate entities and ALWAYS must have approval and the required paper work and documentation.

-A tenant that does not own the apartment will never be allowed to sublet the apartment without A-E above; it is highly recommended that you shy away from any apartments like this at all times, even if it appears to be a great deal. The board of directors and the owner may be in litigation with the tenant you just subleased from; leaving you (the sub- leasee ) exposing yourself to a great deal of problems, damage that could result in lawsuits.

-ALWAYS ask if it is a rental building, condo or a coop building. Should the answer be A Condo or Coop building, be sure to avoid it unless you are dealing with one of the more reputable real estate brokerage agencies in the city. We can easily advise you on any of the above for free. Simply email info@drakelife.com with any questions or concerns regarding rental and subleasing regulations throughout NYC.

Renting Short-term (1 month – 1 year or less) in a rental building:

Rented to you:

a) By owner of the building then you are safe to sublease/rent

b) By a tenant in the building

i ) It automatically is called a sublet

ii) It must have landlord approval in WRITING without exception

The challenges with a sublet situation in a rental, condo or coop is that

THEY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS illegal; and subleased without approval from the condo/coop board, building management or the rental office.

We have heard of many instances where people get evicted when they sublease/rent an apartment with non-regulated companies, individual firms with only one principal, and sublets from individuals. Sublets from individuals are almost always illegal unless the buildings owners, landlords, condo and coop boards consent in writing.

To avoid this – deal only with the best in the business – NY Habitat, Dwelling Quest or Subletinthecity.com. We are the owners of all our apartments and have the authority to sublease and rent any of our properties. Unlike the firms mentioned above we do not charge any broker fees as we are the owners and landlords of our properties.