Hey Tenants: The Legal Way To Do Short Term Rentals…Get the Landlord Involved!
As the short-term rental market has exploded in NYC, there has been a lot of talk about illegal short term rentals. Most of the emphasis has been on the NYC Multiple Dwelling Law: you are not allowed to rent out your apartment for less than thirty days, unless you are occupying the apartment at the same time. In other words, no taking that three-week dream vacation to France and renting out your place while you’re gone! If you do, you’re probably breaking the law. At Leasebreak.com we avoid this “30 day” issue altogether by not allowing apartment postings with lease durations of less than 30 days. However, there has been less talk about what we believe is an even more critical issue: Getting your landlord’s approval! Common sense would tell you that any major decisions to be made regarding an apartment during the duration of the lease term should include the two parties to the transaction: the tenant and the landlord. However, multi-billion dollar corporations (some of whom like to be referred to as “start-ups”) with big advertising budgets (Hmmm...any guesses? ) give tenants the false impression that they can rent out their apartments according to whatever terms are convenient. Let’s think about this for a minute.. If you rent a car from Hertz for a week, they check your license and you sign a contract with them. Would Hertz let you rent out the car daily to other people? Of course not. Or, if you have a weekly housekeeper, would you be happy if you learned that she gave your keys to her friend to fill in for her while she went out of town, without getting approval from you first? Doubt it. At Leasebreak, we strongly believe that the landlord needs to be involved, in order to comply with NYC laws, abide by the lease, and to maintain a positive short-term rental environment. We are all about transparency and collaboration between the tenant and the landlord. Often, the landlord will work with tenants if they need to exit their lease early. We ask all tenants who post on our website, as well as all real estate agents who post on behalf of tenants, if they have their landlord’s approval. In addition, we recently initiated a new program at Leasebreak where landlords can sign up to be notified when tenants post in their buildings. Feel free to email us at info[at]leasebreak.com to learn more about this program. Short-term leases in rental buildings are absolutely legal — as long as they are for a period of more than 30 days and with the landlord’s permission. Ready to list yours? Sign up at Leasebreak.com today!