Hello,

I live in New York City and I had to take my landlord to court to get a new lease, as they were holding it back from me becasue they thought I was subletting the place. (I had a roommate that couldn’t pay rent and I asked him to move out and I guess his way of “paying me back” was to lie to the landlord and tell them that I was subletting the apt, which I wasn’t). I was wrongfully evicted (they just changed the locks on me) and I had to take them to court to get it overturned. The judge said the case was a waste of time. Their claim was that I abandoned the apt but it made no sense, because I had previously ask for the new lease. Long story short, the judge said it sounded like miscommunication and that if that what is was then to give me the lease to sign. He sent us out the courtroom to settle the matter. I was granted the lease by the landlord and their attorney.

Now, I get a bill in the mail asking for their attorney fees of $956.00. This is outrageous to me! They didn’t win anything and I’m pretty sure that they aren’t entitled to this fee. Please help me out. I know a little about the law, and even if I didn’t commonsense would tell me that this has bogus written all over it. I want to respond with a letter tellign them that I am not paying, but I’d like to put in a legal reference in the letter showing them that I’m not responsible for it.

Can anyone help me out? I’m in New York County.

Thank you very much

I happened to take my headphones off when I heard a key going into the door over and over. I was startled because I didn’t know what that sound was, until I went to the door and looked through the peephole and found my landlord trying to use a key to open my door. (Apparently he didn’t know I was home.) I opened the door just as he was about to and he told me he was passing out a survey he needed to have me complete for the loan for the building. That was all he needed. I didn’t act upset because I was taken by surprise and didn’t have a chance to think about it, but I KNOW you can’t just enter a unit without giving notice, unless it’s an emergency, which this was not. (I should also point out this landlord is an attorney by day, so he of all people should know he shouldn’t be doing this.) I feel violated and angry. What should I do? How would YOU handle this situation?