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yolyhere · Jun 4, 2011, 10:36 AM

I have been living in my apartment for more than 8 years, house was sold once and we were able to stay on. The new owners can no longer afford to keep the house so it's up for sale.
I work from my home as does my partner. I enjoy my time in the apartment and really do not go out on the weekends because I enjoy being home. My question what are my rights as far as how many times they want to show the place, how many open houses can they have and for how long and do I need to keep my door open so that they can just walk in while I am in the apartment? I would much rather let them in and I do not want to have them show the place without my presence. I also get a lot of last minute calls around dinner time, is it within my right to refuse this time?
To add we do not have a lease however I do not think the landlord who lives here cannot afford to have us move out suddenly... they simply cannot meet their payments and I believe we are helping them to eat with our rent.

AK lawyer · Jun 4, 2011, 11:08 AM

Tell them that if they want to show the apartment you will need 24 hour advance notice. Then, if the realtor calls at dinner time simply tell them "Sorry, no. We are having dinner. And, in addition, you didn't tell us you were coming 24 hours ago."

By open house, I assume you mean a time during which a realtor waits in the premises for passers-by to come in to see the place. You don't have to put up with this at all.

yolyhere · Jun 4, 2011, 11:18 AM

Thank you so much for your reply this helps so much. I was going to ask next question which is if open house is from 1-4 and they continue to show after 4 then my assumption based on your answer is that I can refuse.

AK lawyer · Jun 4, 2011, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by yolyhere

Thank you so much for your reply this helps so much. I was going to ask next question which is if open house is from 1-4 and they continue to show after 4 then my assumption based on your answer is that I can refuse.

You are welcome. I was just, after my previous post, reviewing the New York Landlord-Tenant statute to see if I could find any specific law on the subject. I could not, so what I told you is an "in general" statement. One of the most frequent experts on this forum is JudyKayTee. She is in New York and knows everything about the law in the Empire State. So, when she weighs into this thread she may have some more specific information for you.

If you were to allow them an open house from one to four it would be out of the goodness of your heart; you wouldn't have to. Accordingly, yes, you would be well within your rights to tell them, at four, to leave.

yolyhere · Jun 4, 2011, 11:48 AM

Thank you so much. I had a gut feeling that this was not something I needed to do. It just seems so invasive and I know there are plenty of people who just like going out to look at homes with no plans on buying at all.
You have a good day.

ScottGem · Jun 4, 2011, 12:28 PM

Some of this depends on terms of the original lease. But you definitely have the right to reasonable notice. I'm not so sure whether you have the right to refuse an open house, but you do have the right to restrict it to the stated time, require that a rep of the realtor be there all the time and even allow some closed off personal space.

Personally, I think allowing an open house is better than have a stream of appontments.

yolyhere · Jun 4, 2011, 12:45 PM

Thanks Scott. I definitely would like to close off personal space. All this said and done it's 15 minutes to the end of open house and no one has come by... good for me not so good for the landlord. I actually like the landlord and wish they were not leaving. I do wish them luck.

joypulv · Jun 4, 2011, 01:23 PM

NYC has additional laws above NY state. All I could find, however, was 'reasonable' notice to show an apartment and 'reasonable' number of showings. NYC is noted for siding heavily with tenants.
I lived around Boston most of my life and they have lots of tenant protection too. LLs were expected to NOT include rentals in open houses of 2 families, not because of the advance notice law but because open houses attract so many people who are just browsing, and who may not be monitored carefully either. I would bring that up to your LL - theft, damage, children, all that can go wrong. One agent left a door open and let a cat in that didn't belong to the tenant (who was away), and locked the cat in. The cat destroyed every cloth and wood item in the place, at huge expense to the brokerage.

Fr_Chuck · Jun 4, 2011, 02:14 PM

You have lived there for 8 years, any consideration of buying the home yourself, and you renting out the other part

yolyhere · Jun 6, 2011, 10:44 AM

Not in a position to buy at this time and if I did buy I would most likely not buy in this neighborhood.
Lots of houses for sales in the area some new some old, this house is priced to high... but thanks.

yolyhere · Jun 6, 2011, 10:48 AM

Thanks for your comments... I always stay home when they show the place. I do not trust that someone I do not know IE: Realtor to have access to my apartment while I am not here. The landlord almost always vacates the premises when the house is shown so they are usually not around for the viewings. I agree with you that non potential buyers do attend open houses just to browse with no real intentions of buying.