Ask Altagracia: I'm subletting and have been asked to move out within a few days. Is this legal?
- Subtenants with valid leases cannot be forced to leave before their lease ends
- Notice periods can range from 10 to 90 days and depend on lease terms
- Lockouts are illegal if you’ve been renting the apartment for 30 days or more
“Subtenants have rights and you are entitled to stay until the end of your lease,” said tenant attorney Altagracia Pierre-Outerbridge.
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You cannot be forced to move out of a New York City rental within just a few days. “Subtenants have rights and you are entitled to stay until the end of your lease,” said Altagracia Pierre-Outerbridge, attorney and founder of Outerbridge Law representing residential tenants, condo owners, and landlords.
So if your lease is in effect and you are paying the rent, you have the right to stay.
Of course, your ability to stay requires that the original tenant’s lease term extends beyond the one they have given you. “If the primary tenant gives you a term that is longer than their lease, they have given you something they don't own,” Pierre-Outerbridge said.
How much advance notice to expect
Landlords are required to give you advance notice when they want you to vacate. If the primary tenant’s lease is up—and the apartment is not rent-stabilized, which provides automatic lease renewals—a landlord can file what’s called a licensee holdover against you. Even so, the minimum notice you’d be entitled to is 10 days.
“They only have to give you 10-days’ notice in these situations,” Pierre-Outerbridge said, because there is no established landlord-tenant relationship between you.
If the person who sublet the apartment to you wants you out and it is beyond the end of the sublease term, you’d be entitled to a notice period of at least 30 days. “The length of that notice is based on how long you have been in possession,” Pierre-Outerbridge said.
If you have been in the apartment for less than a year, and the primary tenant wants you to leave, the notice period is 30 days; from one to two years, it is 60 days; and for more than two years, you are entitled to a 90-days’ notice.
Pierre-Outerbridge points out a tenant who has been in possession of an apartment for more than 30 days cannot be locked out.
“Instead, the person wanting you out would need to go through the eviction process, giving you the required notice,” she said. All notices need to be given in writing.
What to do if you're locked out
If you are locked out of your place and you have a lease with your name on it, you can call the police department and they will let you back in.
“If you don’t have a lease, you’d need to go to housing court and file an illegal lockout petition,” Pierre-Outerbridge said.
The illegal lockout petition is technically a reverse eviction proceeding and these cases are expedited so you can be in court within two weeks. If you have important medication in your apartment, you can add this information to the petition in order to get immediate access to retrieve personal items.
Altagracia Pierre-Outerbridge, Esq. is the owner of Outerbridge Law P.C, focusing primarily on tenant representation. The firm represents all sides in landlord-tenant litigation and transactional matters such as month-to-month holdovers, nuisance cases, licensee cases, harassment claims, repair cases, tenant buyouts, succession claims, DHCR overcharges and rent reductions and more. Pierre-Outerbridge has 15 years of experience litigating in Supreme, DHCR, and Housing Court. To submit a question for this column, click here. To contact Outerbridge Law P.C. directly, call 212-364-5612 or 877-OUTERBRIDGE, or schedule a meeting today.
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