Our partner, Lucas A. Ferrara, was quoted in the Real Estate Section of Sunday's New York Times .
Here's the piece in its entirety:
Rent Liability After a Lease Ends
By Jay Romano
I live in a rent-stabilized apartment in New York City, and I did not sign the lease renewal form that the landlord sent me because I am planning to leave. I recently received a letter from my management company stating that because I did not give notice within 60 days of the end of the lease, the lease is deemed to be in effect for another year and I will be responsible for the next year's rent unless someone is found to rent the apartment. The lease ends on May 31. If they don't rent the apartment, am I responsible for the rent for the next year?
"With few exceptions, a landlord is required to offer a rent-stabilized tenant a lease renewal," said Lucas A. Ferrara, a Manhattan real estate lawyer and adjunct professor at New York Law School. "If that offer is made 90 to 150 days before the lease is scheduled to expire, the tenant has 60 days from the offer's mailing date, or its receipt by personal delivery, to accept the renewal's terms."
Mr. Ferrara said that in the event a regulated tenant fails or refuses to renew, the law does not permit a landlord to deem a renewal in effect unless the tenant remains in possession of the space. "In other words," he added, "if the letter writer leaves the apartment on or before May 31, there should be no continuing liability for rent."