Q: I didn’t know that the rent-stabilized constructing the place I reside had been offered till I acquired a textual content message from an unknown quantity telling me to pay my hire through Venmo or Zelle. Moments later, a stranger knocked at my door and launched himself as a consultant of the brand new proprietor. He refused to reveal the proprietor’s id and informed me I may mail my verify to a publish workplace field if I didn’t wish to pay hire digitally. I used to be left feeling surprised, weak and betrayed by the earlier landlord. Was there no obligation to tell tenants that the constructing had been offered, and to confirm the brand new landlord’s id on our behalf? Shouldn’t we now have acquired discover?
A: Don’t ship your hire verify to a random publish workplace field or an nameless Venmo account or to anybody who can not show that they signify your new landlord.
“I’d by no means ship anybody cash that I don’t know, if I don’t have proof that they’re really entitled to the cash,” stated Bradley S. Silverbush, a Manhattan lawyer who represents landlords. If the request is fraudulent, “you’re by no means going to get that again, OK?”
As a matter of courtesy, your landlord ought to have informed you that the constructing offered, and supplied you with details about the brand new administration. The brand new proprietor, nonetheless, should register the constructing with each town and the state, disclosing the names and enterprise addresses of the individual licensed to handle it, in addition to the proprietor or whoever is permitted to behave on the proprietor’s behalf. It’s best to be capable of discover this info on town’s Division of Housing Preservation and Growth web site, in addition to on state information, because it’s a rent-stabilized constructing. Monetary knowledge in regards to the sale must be obtainable on the Automated Metropolis Register Info System.
However it’s not your job or duty to search out this info. You might be entitled to know that you’re paying hire to the proper entity, and whom it’s best to contact with any issues along with your residence. Insist that the one that contacted you show that they signify the proprietor. Withhold hire till you’re proven enough documentation to show that you’re certainly paying your landlord.
Discuss to your neighbors, too. Kind a tenants’ affiliation, if one doesn’t exist already. “In the event you’re confronted with this, your neighbors are additionally confronted with it,” stated Andrew Scherer, a professor at New York Regulation Faculty and the co-director of the Housing Justice Management Institute. “Act collectively on one thing like this. There’s clearly security in numbers.”
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