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We are a West Cty coop that has a No Sublet Policy. 1 of our shareholders has another apt in the county, where the maint bill is mailed. He states that the occupant is his roommate and that it is not a sublet. Is there a law/requirement for how long one must occupy the apt to qualify as primary residence or in fact that he even resides there?
It is the first (a written policy of No Sublets). We believe that he is using the roomate angle to get around it. He does not reside there with any consistency, nor is job issues at the root.
Remit the shareholder to legal and be done. As I mentioned, if the shareholder is out of the unit and the roommate (no longer roommate) has no relationship to the shareholder as defined by the PL, his occupancy has become a cause for termination of the PL under unauthorized occupancy.
AdC
Most proprietary leases or bye laws cover the subject
In ours it states that a guest may stay if the owner is also a residing with them and may stay longer but the owner must get written permission from the board.
If you have a policy of no subletting, your PL should establish a timeline for company, guests and house sitters and guidelines for new lessees.
If you wish to pursue the action, you must first establish, prove, document and substantiate [intentionally belaboring the point here] that the SH is subletting. Otherwise you begin legal for breach of lease and the SH quickly remedies the situation and you did nothing but waste money and time.
What are your objectives? To have the SH move back? To get rid of the other person? to sue for breach of lease? Just to enforce the Lease and remedy without litigation?
Documentation and proof is easy. If he owns the apartment, then you have his info in the closing file. Run a full check on his personal file (I use First Advantage) find out where he files taxes from, and what address his drivers license and major credit cards are attached to, of course where he receives his bills.
Then you can present him with the information and tell him to save the building time and himself the grief of losing an apartment by getting rid of the sublet. (remember, this is part of the documentation process also) If that fails, then you have the ammo in hand to provide to the attorney.
I have been fortunate enough to have a near 100% success rate using this system without having to use other resources.
Good Luck
~AR
Is it legal to run a full check on shareholders personal file without his permission?
Just as your mortgage company pulls your credit every now and then, my purchase applications have a court/credit request approval form that is signed. This form is made to be perpetual. With the laws changing on a constant basis, I would reccomend you run yours by your atty first.
Nevertheless, when we cannot find anything through that venue, we use an investgative service that is great also, and totaly legal. They find out everyting that we can't and are pretty inexpensive. Alot of info is public information that you can obtain without an authorisation or the hiring of help.
~AR
two helpful links:
http://www.fadvsaferent.com/products_services/resident_screening/index.php
and
http://www.94truth.com/?gclid=CIy78_i3vo8CFQNAgQodYle0Pg
or
Topher Tenant Investigations
9777 Queens Blvd Ste 1118
Flushing, NY 11374-3332
Phone: (718) 275-2532
No MN it's not legal.
If someone uses (FROM YOUR PERSONAL FILE) your name, SS#, date of birth, or other identifying information without authority it's a FRAUD, and shareholder may be able to sue in state or federal court. Board is not a mortgage company.
Shareholder is not a cheating spouse or lover.
for pointing out we don't live in a police state.
Yet.
Why to people take things out of context?
Do NOT misinterpret what I said, or take it in part, otherwise you will be in trouble with the FCRA.
As I wrote in my post
"...my purchase applications have a court/credit request approval form that is signed. This form is made to be perpetual. With the laws changing on a constant basis, I would recommend you run yours by your atty first...."
Because, landlords and property rental and management companies perform credit checks on potential tenants on a fairly regular basis, it is important they adhere to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requirements. The FCRA as a law puts tight restrictions on the procurement and handling of resident screening reports.
What we do, and how we do it is 100% within the law.
As long you adhere to FCRA rules, you should not face any problems, and for you to be in legal compliance with the FCRA, your disclaimer should read as under:
“....XXX Property Management Company has my permission to release information found in screening for any lawful purpose associated with tenancy of premises at any time prior to, or during my residency at XXXXXX. I authorize XXX Property Management Company to obtain credit reports, character information, verification of rental history, employment history, bank information, public records, and personal reference as necessary to verify all information set forth in this application. I further agree and understand that XXX Property Management Company may from time to time run additional reports to maintain the integrity of my information file.”
We have been doing this for 11 years without any problems. Of course there are other guidelines that must be adhered to. As I stated before, consult your atty first; you also should familiarize yourself with the full act.
If you are interested, the complete text of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 1681-1681u can be found at the Federal Trade Commission’s web site – http://www.ftc.gov
~AR
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What is the point of your posting:
1. The builidng does not allow to sublease a unit?
or
2. The builidng does not have a defined sublet policy?
If the first is question is the driving point, then read your Proprietary Lease (PL) Occupancy Section. If your PL happens to be the boiler plate type, it might well say that a guest or occupany may stay in the unit as long as the shareholder is in RESIDENCE. Obviously, a roommate needs to move if the legally domiciled resident does not live the unit unless the roommate happens to be a defined a family class member by the PL. If you are sending the maintenance to another address, WHY? Similarly, does the shareholder live the unit, i.e., does he come to sleep to the building every night, not just to pick up the mail, do washes and leave.
If your resident is on short business trips, of course, the occupant may reside the unit. However, if your resident has been out of the unit for a prudential time (2 or more months) I would get in touch with the co-op counsel and try to discuss the problem and even take appropriate action by way of a letter.
YOu'll be surprised how soon those cases are clarified.
AdC
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