Many readers of our tenants’ rights blog across the New York City metro area might reasonably anticipate the answer to the above-posed headline query as being a resounding … “maybe.”
On the one hand, there are certainly instances where a court upholds a landlord’s removal action of one or more tenants that it finds grounded in reasonableness solidly backed by law.
On the other hand, though, there are legions of cases that occur across the metro all the time in which a landlord’s ouster attempts are seen to be in bad faith and flatly unlawful.
It merits noting for any NYC tenant living in a rent-stabilized unit that, “You can be evicted, but the grounds for eviction are limited.”
That comment is offered by partner Sam Himmelstein of Himmelstein McConnell Gribben & Joseph LLP in a recent article addressing the rights of city tenants sought to be evicted from their rent-stabilized apartments.
As Himmelstein notes therein, a landlord seeking to clear a rent-stabilized unit and jack up its lease price is far from free to do so without constraints.
Indeed, there are well-established rules, case law holdings and guidelines that govern landlords’ actions aimed at eviction. In many cases, tenants have strong defenses against ouster and, even when ruled against initially, a reasonable time to remedy outstanding issues and remain in their homes.
Unsurprisingly, questions relevant to eviction and issues surrounding landlords’ removal attempts of rent-stabilized tenants can be many and complex. There are caveats, exceptions, grace periods, various defenses and additional matters to collectively consider in many cases.
A concerned individual or family facing a landlord’s challenge might reasonably want to turn to a proven law firm with a long history of tenant advocacy in housing matters.
Landlords have rights. They are from unlimited, though, and often successfully contested by an aggressive and timely legal response.
