[Fredslist] Kathy Canfield Shepard needs your help!!!

[Kathy Canfield Shepard]

Dear friends,

I am writing to you all to ask for your help with a tenant landlord- 
problem we are having that is really ruining our lives at the moment.

My husband and I are rent-stabilized tenants (my husband of 32 years  
and I of 17 years) at London Terrace Towers, a cooperative under a non- 
eviction plan since the late 1980s. My husband has been offered  
employment for the next year and a half out of state. Back when we  
first heard of this opportunity we asked our rental office right away  
(Elliman Property Management) if we could have a roommate to help  
cover the rent while he is out of town and I remain here for most of  
the time,  visiting him on weekends and different weeks here and  
there. They said yes, and we could come get our roommate a building  
ID. We did find someone to be our guest/roommate at that time. Back on  
September 16th, we called to arrange for her ID, and the woman in the  
office put us on the line with another person in the office who said  
if we had a guest or roommate staying with us while we are not here,  
it could only be for thirty days. In the past, on numerous occasions,  
we have been allowed to have guests in our apartment while we have  
been away. And a close reading of our current lease shows us no reason  
why I should not be allowed to have such a guest.

Then, on September 18, to enable our guest to be here longer than  
thirty days while we are not here, my husband sent a letter of intent  
to London Terrace Associates - following all of the stipulations of  
New York Real Property Law Section 226-b - indicating our intent to  
sublease our apartment to our guest/roommate, a gainfully employed  
professional musician who is our friend (our reason for subletting  
being that my husband is taking temporary employment on the West Coast  
for the rest of our current lease). We have received no communication  
from the landlord within the initial 10-day period stipulated by  
Section 226-b (when they can ask further questions about our request)  
nor have we within the days since then. They are supposed to inform us  
whether or not we are granted our request within 30 days of our  
original letter being sent.

Last night (October 2nd) after the closing of the building's  
management office, the landlord told the lobby attendants that our  
guest was not to be admitted to the building in our absence, going  
against everything they had previously said.

Yesterday, we also moved out many - but not all - of our possessions,  
and we were scheduled to fly to the West Coast this morning. My  
husband did leave this morning, but I now am forced to stay here to be  
in the apartment with our guest full-time, so she has a place to stay,  
until at least the end of October, when we will know the status of our  
sub-lease.

According to our building's superintendant, the sponsor's  
representative informed him that we are not allowed to have guests  
while we are away.  However, it is our understanding that - as a legal  
rent-stabilized tenants - we are not bound by the Sponsor's rules but  
rather by the rent laws of New York State, which include our right to  
sublet my apartment for up to two years (if all the stipulations of  
NYRPL Section 226-b are followed, as we have done).  Moreover, we find  
nothing in the laws or the terms of our current lease to prevent us  
from having a guest in the absence of myself and my husband, as we  
have often done in the past.

Can anyone help us with this issue, or know what legal recourse we  
have? We have done everything we should have done and have been very  
honest and up front with the management office at every turn. But they  
are making our lives very miserable (not surprising from what we all  
hear about New York City landlord-tenant issues).

Thanks everyone – please call me at 212-243-5295 or email me at kathy at canfielddesignstudios.com 
  if you know of anything we can do, so I can join my husband on the  
West Coast as a soon as possible.

Kathy Canfield Shepard



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Call us for a free consultation!
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Kathy Canfield Shepard
President

Canfield Design Studios, Inc.
Web Design & Development  •  Print, Logo & Identity Design
Creative Marketing Solutions  •  Consulting & Training
http://www.canfielddesignstudios.com

The Swimming Paintbrush
Unique Watercolor Cards & Gifts
http://www.swimmingpaintbrush.com

Watercolors by Kathy Canfield Shepard
http://www.canfieldwatercolors.com

BEFORE OCTOBER 1st:
410 West 24th Street, No. 6L
New York, NY 10011

AFTER OCTOBER 1st:
2887 College Avenue, Suite No. 342
Berkeley, CA 94705

TEL: 212-243-5295

CELL: 917-579-0672
(IMPORTANT: Please also leave a message at 212-243-5295 if you leave a  
message on the cell phone voice mail.)

EMAIL: kathy at canfielddesignstudios.com

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