Hi, I'm 23 years old. Currently living in a private house with my 22 year old fiancé and my 24 year old brother. My landlord lives upstairs from me and I rent the 2nd floor for 1575 a month and my uncle rents the basement for 1000 a month. He charged us 2 securities at 1575 for having a dog and for watching my moms dog when she comes every other week or two. He just recently (after 10 yrs of living here) told us we cannot smoke in the house and then raised our rent 50 dollars a month because of it. Also asking that we up our security 50 each to match the new rent price. He also has a child upstairs who is under the age of 2 and runs around all day with no carpeting. He has been taking advantage of us the last couple of months. Threatening that if we are not going to behave (making sure we clean up after our dog, no smoking, no friends etc) he will "hit us where it hurts our wallets". I don't know what I am entitled to because I don't have a lease. I was wondering if you can give me any advice. Before he had the child he would come down uninvited and drink our liquor eat our food and always coming into our house uninvited and without notice. What do I do?

ANY question on law needs to include your general locale as laws vary by area.

Without a lease, either of you can terminate the tenancy with about a month's notice. You have the right to a habitable home. Without knowing where you are, I can't say whether he had the right to raise the security or not.

But, if you find your living situation a problem, then find a new place to live.

Other than the patter of little feet upstairs, I don't see any real issue.

Yes in general (without knowing more as to where) he can with a months notice raise your rent, with a month notice ask you to leave.

Change rules on dogs and pets and so on.

I don't see him taking advantage of you, and the dog does need to be cleaned up after even without a toddler in the house, and smoke does seep through ceilings, and of course he can raise the rent and security, and warning you that the rent will go up is not a 'threat.'

The rent sounds sort of high (unless it includes utilities, then it's a good deal) for many parts of the country, so just start looking for another house. If your uncle chipped in with you for a sort of separate part of the house, you could find a nice house with no owner living upstairs, and maybe even save on rent.

Queens, New York is the location. It's not the fact that he randomly decided to raise rent. I clean up after my dog, I stopped smoking in the house. The problem is the fact that he raised rent and then the security on top of that and also the fact that he does that I'm pretty sure isn't legal like asking us to stop cooking at a certain time and using the "or ill throw you out" comment to put fear in us. Like I said I've lived here 10 years, I've bent over backwards for them.

You can try to use his threats to claim harassment, though I doubt if that will fly. Given the living arrangement, he controls kitchen privileges.

Its not illegal to raise the rent, though it may be to raise the security, I have to check on that.

One little way to fight fire with fire (hitting him in his wallet) is to ask him if he reports all this rental income on his taxes and if he is legally allowed to have rentals in a single family house (I can't tell if he goes through your part to get to the top floor and it's all one house or not) - especially the basement, which will have various codes to be legal.
That can backfire, of course, because you could end up out of there in a NY minute, and you'll all be out of luck.
Why not talk to him at a time when emotions aren't running high, and say you want to be careful for the child's sake, and so on, and just mention that he's doing pretty well with all of you there if he isn't reporting it or isn't legal, and you want to all get along.
I own my own home and have a roommate who has a whole separate mini-apartment and even though we get along and are a lot older, we constantly need to work on arrangements with mutual respect.