[ScottGem]

Well, with all due respect Scott, you may be one hell of a computer expert but you are not an attorney, and neither am I. I have no idea what my attorney is basing his facts on, but I do know that he is the top attorney in this field and I trust that he knows what he is doing.

One does not have to be a lawyer to know the law. That's why I am asking what your attorney is basing his opinion on. I do have more than the average knowledge of Real Estate law from past experiences and I live on LI. It is certainly possible this guy knows something I don't. In which case I would like to know what it is. But to my knowledge it is unlikely you will win a case to recover any past rental.

We can only respond to what you tell us. You keep adding little tidbits of information with each post. If you had provided more info initially (like him riding around on a Rolls) our responses may have been different. Clearly this guy is going to get a reality check when the Town and County is informed about his violations. But just as clearly you will have to move and I doubt if you will see any compensation for having lived there.

[JudyKayTee]

I DO know the law. I owned apartment buildings and houses. You lived in the apartment, illegal or not. You are NOT going to get your rent money back. For your sake I hope I am legally incorrect and you will come back and let us know how this works out for you (and your Attorney).

You DO have to be careful when you address this problem in Court - the car your landlord drives and whether he has a wad of cash in his pocket, the fact that you and your husband each work two jobs CAN sound like sour grapes.

If the apartment is dangerous and uninhabitable I would think you would move your children out immediately whether you take a financial beating or not. I don't understand your Attorney's advice - you are going to stay in the apartment, knowing it is illegal, paying the same rent and refusing to pay the increase - ? This makes you a co-conspirator in an illegal apartment. You are no longer your landlord's victim. You are his partner.

I'm confused by what your Attorney is telling you.

[smoothy]

I'm curious about the ethnicity of the Rolls Royce driving Landlord... The Italian Mob doesn't flaunt it around... But the Russian Mob might. Because no landlord with only two smallish properties is going to gain enough income to be rolling around in a Rolls... and anyone with that level of unreported income IS going to be someone you don't want to mess with.

And Harry and Harriet with three rugrats are about as intimidating to those people as a white bunny rabbit is.

But then, the worst that can possible happen is most if not all of your family just disappears, right? Nothing to worry about.

Trust me... people get killed over less than $20 these days...

Some battles are NOT worth fighting.

Besides... you said you couldn't afford the $500 rent increase... but you can now afford to hire a lawyer that will cost you substantually more. And obviously have the bucks to lay down to rent a new property you WILL have to do in short order... and even more you said you will just go buy a place. That means you have a LOT of extra money laying around... because the days of buying a house with nothing down are a thing of the past... they want 20% down cash before you get a loan.

Nobody here is being mean or hostile to you, we see someone who is about to make a huge mistake on a crusade that's going to cost a lot of money, and stands a good chance of putting you and your family at risk. All for something you might or might not win.

Ever hear the term "You might win the battle but still lose the war?"

Do you understand what that means? Is this crusade worth possible having retribution by unknown parties that might involve your spouse or one or all of your children? Because IF the guy is in fact connected in some manner... that might happen.

And you are in NY In a NYC suburb... heck that ranks second only to Chicago as for as corruption and related things.

And trust me... even if you watched the Sopranos... you don't know the Mob at all. And they AREN'T the worst of the people you could possible run affoul with.

That is assuming he really has a Rolls and a wad of cash. Which he certainly didn't earn enough money to get by renting a few illegal units like you describe... its physically impossible. That means he is connected... and the last person you would want to tick off. Assumning what you have said in this thread was true and accurate.