Deadbeat Renter in Brooklyn, NY

I remodeled the basement into a partial apartment to rent out to pay my mortgage. However the renter has not paid over 5 months and have always lied saying he will pay in a week or a few days. I do not know why I waited so long but now I cannot be bothered with him.

Can someone tell me what I can do. Since he's not on a lease but I give him receipts... what can I legally do? I figure I can simply kick him out but googling shows renter rights but I really can't stand him there anymore. Any assistance would really be appreciated.

[OHlandlord]

I'm guessing this was an illegal unit? Not licensed or inspected? Why else would you allow this to go on this long? You will have a problem with the city for renting an illegal unit. But first you need to deal with the tenant. It doesn't seem like you know what steps to take. For this reason, I strongly suggest you contact an eviction specialist. An attorney who deals only with residential evictions. Call around and you should be able to find one who does this for a flat fee for non-payment evictions. Don't get a general attorney. You want one who knows his/her stuff about landlord-tenant laws. It may cost a some money to hire one, but it will be well worth it. If you had hired one 4 months ago, think how much you would have saved by now. Your tenant isn't going anywhere on his own. You need an attorney to make him leave.

First you will have to serve a pay or quit notice to the tenant according to your state's method of legal service. An attorney will have this form and know how it has to be served. Once this expires and he hasn't paid up, the attorney will file for eviction with the court. I've have heard that attorneys in your area get quicker court dates than LLs who do their own evictions. Expect this tenant to try and stall. Your attorney will know how to deal with this. Once you get the writ of possession, the court will give the tenant a few days to vacate. If he still doesn't leave, you will need to sheriff to do a set out. At that point, change the locks and you will have possession back.

After that, you may have to deal with the city for the zoning code violation. You may get a fine or may have to just convert the rental back to just your residence. But don't worry about this now. Just concentrate on getting the deadbeat out. In the future, if you rent again, never allow a tenant get more than a couple weeks behind at most before you take action. Good luck and update us on how this turns out.

I too am facing the same problem and I wanted to find out if and how you were able to resolve your problem.

I am having extreme financial problems and I decided torent my furnished basement to a family from DHS. They moved into the apartment in September. The city pays $1020 and the tenant is responsible for $430 of the rent which they have not paid. They are also chronic substance abusers who smoke something that is making my faily and I sick with the odor that has now completely permeated our living space where there is a 10-month old baby.

I call DHS to complain and ask that they find somewhere else for these people to reside. They were so nasty to me and basically told me it was my problem.

Needless to say I am so upset because I thought that I was helping a family in need while trying to get back on my feet. I am a single parent of 5 with 2 special needs children who along with myself have asthma. The smoke is driving us up the wall.

Do you have a lease with these tenant? If not, you can give them the appropriate amount of written notice for your state and ask them to move out. In most areas, no reason is needed to terminate a month to month tenant. I also suggest you contact the drug task force near you and ask about drugs that these tenants could be smoking. It doesn't sound as if they are smoking cigarettes.