I have been living in my apartment as an illegal subletter for 4.5 years. The landlord knew for almost the last year that I was there without being on the lease, and I paid my rent with money orders with my name on it, and she (the landlord) accepted them. 3 months ago she sold the building, the new landlord has been sending leases to the apartment, but in the old tenent's name, so obviously, I haven't opened them. I sent a letter to the new landlord asking them to resend the lease in my name, and have called them a couple times to request this too. I have not heard back from the new landlord. Does the new landlord have the right to evict me since the previous landlord was accepting my rent? What are my rights?

What happened to the former tenant? Are they gone? If they are then basically that tenant has assigned their lease to you.

If this is the case then you should send another letter to the new landlord. This time send it by certified mail, return receipt requested, and send a second copy by regular mail. In the letter inform them that you are the current tenant and that they should correct their records and send the new lease to you.

They may be able to terminate your tenancy and file for eviction based on the fact that you were subletting in violation of the original lease. But they may not win since the landlord knew you were there and accepted your rent. If this goes to court and a judge decides that they have to accept you as a tenant then you are a month-to-month tenant. That means that they have to offer you a renewal of your month-to-month tenancy, but if they want to get rid of you then they can raise the rent every 30 days.

If you've been a good tenant and have paid the rent on time then it's not likely they would want to get rid of you. So try sending the new letter and see what happens.

Thank you! That's great advice, I'll send out those letters this week. I didn't realize what a precarious situation I was putting myself in by not being on the lease with the old landlord. I figured since she knew I was there and accepted my rent I was okay. I guess I'll just have to see how the new landlord handles it. I have been a good tenent, and the Super has volunteered to speak to the new landlord on my behalf as a result. I assume they can only raise the rent to a certain extent, right? It's a rent-controlled building. Is there any advantage to them getting rid of me? As I understand it, they can't raise the rent with a new tenent because of this. Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed. Again, thank you, your advice was great. :)

To answer your question, yes the previous tenent has disappeared. I am not able to contact him (I have tried so that I can get him to surrender the apartment officially to me) but we have not had contact in a long time, and I have tried to find him, but haven't had any luck.

Good luck!