Has landlord breach lease agreement?
I recently signed a two year lease with the owners of a cooperative apartment bldg. the lease was signed by the president of the board for the cooperative at the time. Verbal consent was given to me by the president of the board who signed the lease to bring some of my furniture two days before the starting date of the lease, as I had to surrender the other apartment prior to the first of the month. One day before the lease went into effect, I was bringing some of my belongings to the apartment when I was met by someone who claimed was sent by the managing agent. He indicated, he had strict orders to make sure all of my belongings were taken out immediately. I informed him of the lease agreement and the consent given to me by the person who signed the consent on behalf of the cooperative, but he did not care. After talking to an attorney, I was advised to remove my personal belongings and return on the first of the lease term. I rented a storage space to bring my furniture to on that day. On the first day of the lease (Friday), I went to the apartment to start bringing some items only to find out the lock to the apartment door had been changed, I made several calls to the management agent and they informed me that the person in charge of that building was not in and she would probably not be in until Monday. I was not informed by anyone that the locks were changed or why. I had possession of the apartment keys since the time the lease agreement was signed by the landlord's representative. My questions are:
Did I have possession of the apartment once keys were given to me? Was consent given to me by board president to bring personal belongings into apartment before start of lease legal consent? Does the changing of the lock constitute a breach of contract by landlord?
Thanks for your help.
nelsonned
