Buyouts

Some rent-regulated tenants are ready to move for a variety of reasons. If you are giving up a valuable rent-stabilized apartment to a landlord that will benefit as a result, you deserve compensation. We can help you negotiate a fair buyout and draft an agreement that will ensure that you get paid when you willingly decide to give up your apartment.

However other rent-stabilized tenants are bullied into buyouts by landlords who repeatedly and aggressively encourage them to take buyouts that they don't want. New York City Council passed a bill No. 682-A which took effect in December 2015. The law regulates landlords, "tenant relocation specialists" and penalizes landlords' harassing efforts to push tenants from their home via persistent buyout offers. The bill places reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on a landlord's buyout offers to tenants. For example, landlords are prohibited from using threatening, intimidating, or obscene language. Landlords cannot initiate buyout talks too often; can't contact tenants at their place of employment; cannot lie to the tenant in an effort to coerce a buyout. Additionally, if a tenant feels harassed by a landlord's attempts to negotiate a buyout, the tenant may ask the landlord in writing to stop contacting them for that purpose. Under Intro No. 757-A, once a tenant makes the demand in writing, the landlord (or the "tenant relocation specialist") is prohibited from contacting the tenant for six months. It is considered harassment if the landlord contacts the tenant regarding a buyout even after the demand was made that they stop.  Lastly, under Intro No. 700-A, upon initial contact with a tenant regarding a buyout, a landlord is required to provide the tenant with a written statement of their rights.

This bill has the effect of protecting tenants from harassment while still allowing them to negotiate buyout offers with their landlord if they choose to do so. One of the major benefits of this law is that it was written to allow tenants to file a harassment action for in the NYC Civil Court via an HP proceeding. 

Whether you want to negotiate a fair buyout for yourself or you want to file an HP action for harassment based on the tenant protection laws outlined above, the attorneys at RLG are ready to assist!