Tenant Law Podcast

Today we are looking at a case and a regulation that reminds us of a tenant’s rights when the landlord renews a Rent Stabilized lease late. We are going to try to clear up some confusion and save tenants a few bucks.Links:• Michelle Itkowitz Podcasting Website• New York City Rent Guidelines Board• Today’s Case• Rent Stabilization Code § 2523.5(c)(1)• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

You have been sued by your landlord, and you just wish the case would go away, because with a bit more time, you would have the money to move, which you were planning on doing anyway. You just need a break. Therefore, in this episode, we look at a Housing Court Hack regarding the inadequate apartment description defense in eviction lawsuits. We also cover where tenants often go wrong in their negotiations with their landlords and offer some tips for obtaining better deal outcomes.Links:• Our Website• A Case Mentioned: Ahmed v. Reid, 77 Misc.3d 1213(A) [New York City Civil Court, Kings County 2022].• Today’s Case: Osibodu v. Fehintola, 2025 WL 4062273 [New York City Civil Court, Kings County 2025].• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

You are moving to New York City, and you have questions about NYC rental housing. Or, you have lived in New York City all your life, and you still have questions about NYC Housing. Rent Stabilization, Rent Control, the Good Cause Eviction Law, Affordable Housing, Co-ops, Condos, Co-living. Welcome to the most confusing rental housing landscape in the country! Not to worry. In this episode, we explain everything!Please also follow at Broadway Podcast Network! Links:    Tenant Law Podcast Website       New York City Rent Guidelines Board       New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal      Suggest future topics at: questions@tenantlearningplatform.com

In Episode 54 we are looking at a defense to the nonpayment of rent that could apply to as many as a hundred thousand apartments – Multiple Dwelling Law 302, which applies when a building is occupied contrary to its certificate of occupancy on file with the New York City Department of Buildings. But very few tenants know about this law or how to properly utilize this powerful defense. After today's episode, you will understand much better.Links:• Multiple Dwelling Law 301• Multiple Dwelling Law 302• Today’s Case: 8224 Bay Parkway LLC v. Odom, 86 Misc.3d 1255(A) [Civil Court of City of New York, Kings County 2025]• NYC Admin Law Library (for OATH Decisions)• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

Can your landlord up-charge you for paying rent electronically? Those charges sure add up over time. For that matter, can the landlord charge you an extra fee for paying manually – with a check, cash, or money order? If you don’t pay electronically, how can you document that you’ve paid? Do you have a right to a receipt? What type of receipt? And how soon after you pay manually must the landlord give you the receipt? What if you are a subtenant, do the answers change? What if you are Rent Stabilized, do the answers change?These are the questions we are tackling in this Episode 3 of Learn to Live Better, a Housing Law Podcast.Links:• DHCR Fact Sheet 44• Email us with topic suggestions. questions@tenantlearningplatform.comLike, subscribe, review, share – these are the best ways to get this information to more New Yorkers who need it.

Michelle Itkowitz, here. I have news!A version of this show is now being distributed by a real podcast network. It’s a terrific opportunity that I’m very honored to have.The name of the new show is “Learn to Live Better, a Housing Law Podcast”. You know how at the end of every episode I say, “the law belongs to you, but your ownership of the law is only as great as your understanding of the law, so let’s learn to live better…” So, the name of the new show is Learn to Live Better, a Housing Law Podcast.I am now working with the Broadway Podcast Network, a vibrant community of more than 190 shows and 15,000 episodes reaching a global audience of 12 million listeners. BPN is NYC based, it’s young, about 7 years old, it’s got an arts and creativity focus (and that’s a lot of my audience), but there’s so much else on there - it’s business, it’s self-improvement, it’s got awesome scripted dramas. In 2025, one of BPN’s original programs won a Webby, that’s like an Academy Award for a podcast. I think BPN is the right partner to help me help New York City’s middle-class tenants at scale.Here’s the updated show description, which expresses what I’m trying to do here with this podcast project:“If things aren’t going right with your apartment, whether it’s something small or something big, it can throw you off in your career, your personal life, and your health. You want your energy going into your job, your business, your art, your family, your spiritual life, and the causes and people you care about, not into grappling with housing issues.”“Here's the thing. New York City tenants have more rights than tenants anywhere else in America. But NYC tenants also are shockingly uneducated about what those rights are. A right that you don’t know you have is the same as no right at all. And there are so many bits of incomplete information out there, peppered with urban myths about landlord-tenant law.”“This podcast will change all that. In each episode we look at current legal cases and statutes and the real-life apartment stories they give rise to here in the greatest city on earth. And every episode ends with a “Tenant Takeaway”, so you have actionable information to help you make better choices.”Thank you. I’ve been completely alone on this project for 2.5 years and more than 50 episodes. I come up with the ideas, I write the scripts, I’m the talent (such as it is), I’m the tech. I never spent one dime on advertising. I didn’t even do social media. I didn’t have guests to cross-market to their audiences. I didn’t even publish on a consistent schedule. I did pretty much everything contrary to best practices and everything by myself. Yet you gave me the stats that made it possible for a real network to take me seriously enough to give me a shot at hosting and distributing the show.I’ve never asked this community for anything: there’s no Patreon; there’s no merch. But I’m asking you now - if you would find Learn to Live Better, wherever you get your podcasts. Wherever you’re listening now to Tenant Law Podcast, Learn to Live Better will be there. There’s no app, there’s nothing to pay for. It’s just an additional feed. And then subscribe to Learn to Live Better and like it and give it a good review. But don’t stop subscribing here. So that’s what I’m asking, stay subscribed here and subscribe there as well, and please like, review, and share. And maybe mention the program on social media or wherever you think it is appropriate to get the word out to more New Yorkers, so this information can get into the hands of the people who need it.I’m dropping the first episode of Learn to Live Better here in this feed for your listening enjoyment (and viewing enjoyment if you want to watch there is video now, you don’t have to watch you can just listen), so here is “Breaking your Lease Early - Seven Best Practices.”

Are you having a problem with the amenities in your building? Well amenities are usually common elements so if you’re having a problem, maybe the other tenants in your building are having the same problem. Could a class action lawsuit, be an economical and easy way for you and your neighbors to take collective action against your landlord to fix whatever is wrong? In Episode 51 of the Tenant Law Podcast we look at a case where the tenants did just that, involving a pool!Links:• Tenant Law Podcast Website• Today’s Case• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

In Episode 50, we take a deep dive on a powerful tenant defense that very few tenants know anything about. The Rent Impairing Violation defense, pursuant to Multiple Dwelling Law § 302-a, is a substantive defense, that, if successfully employed, means that certain rent is not owed and will never be owed. This could result in months or years of arrears not being collectible. However, the Rent Impairing Violation defense is very complicated to use and comes with risk because you must deposit contested rent with the court.Links:• Tenant Law Podcast Website• List of Categories of Violations that are Rent Impairing• Today’s Case• Important Case Mentioned• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

In Episode 49, we examine another “Housing Court Hack”, ways to spot hidden procedural defects that may get your summary proceeding dismissed. In this episode we examine what happens if the landlord uses the wrong form when attempting to sue you in Housing Court. Links:• Tenant Law Podcast Website• Today’s Case• Uniform Civil Rules for the New York City Civil Court § 208.42• The NYC Civil Court Nonpayment Notice of Petition Form • The NYC Civil Court Holdover Notice of Petition Form• Other Housing Court Hack Episodes:o Episode 3: Can I gain leverage in Housing Court if my landlord describes my apartment incorrectly?o Episode 21: Housing Court Leverage Tip for Tenants: Landlord can only sue for the monthly rent and that rent must be properly itemized or the case can be dismissed.o Episode 38: Housing Court Hack: How to Get your Case Dismissed if your Landlord’s Ownership Entity is in Bad Standing with the State, which is Easy to Look Up.• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

In this episode we give you a bunch of information to help you answer the question: Should I bring my claim against my landlord as a class action? A lawyer or someone else is telling you that you can bring a Rent Stabilization rent overcharge case against your landlord as a class action. Should you do that? What is a class action? What are the pros of a class action? What are the cons of a class action? What are alternatives to bringing a class action? And what are the pros and cons of the alternatives? This episode also imparts a ton of information about pre-HSTPA Rent Stabilization Individual Apartment Improvement rent increases.Links:• Tenant Law Podcast Website• Today’s Case Stafford v. A&E Real Estate Holdings, LLC, 2025 WL 622569 [Supreme Court, New York County 2025]• The transcript of the oral argument on the motion that led to today’s case. • Another example of a Rent Stabilization class action. Marcondes v. Fort 710 Associates, L.P., 75 Misc.3d 1214(A) [Supreme Court, New York County 2022]• Filing an overcharge claim at DHCR; Application. • Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

New Yorkers love their pets and many people in these difficult times need an Emotional Support Animal. Unfortunately, many landlords do not allow animals in apartments, but the landlord’s objection is not always enough to legally prevent a tenant from having an animal in their apartment. There is a great deal of confusion surrounding the laws about pets and Emotional Support Animals in no-pets buildings in New York City. Often tenants make mistakes regarding the adoption of an animal, leading to a great deal of stress and cost. In Episode 47 we embed the second half of a class I taught on Pets and Emotional Support Animals in no-pets buildings, so hopefully tenants can avoid painful mistakes. Do not forget to go back and listen to the first half of the class in Episode 46.Links:• Tenant Law Podcast Website• Free Booklet – Pets and Emotional Support Animals in NYC No-Pets Buildings• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com

New Yorkers love their pets and many people in these difficult times need an Emotional Support Animal. Unfortunately, many landlords do not allow animals in apartments, but the landlord’s objection is not always enough to legally prevent a tenant from having an animal in their apartment. There is a great deal of confusion surrounding the laws about pets and Emotional Support Animals in no-pets buildings in New York City. Often tenants make mistakes regarding the adoption of an animal, leading to a great deal of stress and cost. In Episode 45 we embed the first half of a class I taught on Pets and Emotional Support Animals in no-pets buildings, so hopefully tenants can avoid painful mistakes.Links:• Tenant Law Podcast Website• Free Booklet – Pets and Emotional Support Animals in NYC No-Pets Buildings• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

In this episode we are discussing the Good Cause Eviction Law that was passed just over one year ago, becoming effective on April 20, 2024. What have we learned from the courts or otherwise in the first year of this historic statute?Links:• Tenant Law Podcast Website• HPD webpage on Good Cause Eviction Law• Episode 25: Good Cause Eviction is Here!• Episode 26: Are You Covered by Good Cause Eviction?• Episode 27: Good Cause Eviction Notices• Episode 29: Important Questions About the New Good Cause Eviction Law – a Discussion with Two Super Experienced Landlord-Tenant Lawyers• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

You often hear stories of landlords charging tenants exorbitant fees (upwards of $200) to make copies of keys to apartments. Also, in the last couple decades there has been a lot of changing over in buildings from regular old keys systems to non-duplicable keys, electronic key fobs, and key cards.I just had a lease come across my desk the other day for an apartment where this was in a section of the lease called “Additional Rent”:“Keyfobs & Locks. Tenant acknowledges that each Tenant has or will receive one access entry device (either a keyfob, a keycard, or an access code for their smartphone, under owner’s sole discretion) and one mailbox Key for each individual signing this Lease as a Tenant…Tenant understands that these are the only access entry devices that will be provided during the term of this Lease without charge. In the event that Tenant loses their physical access entry device, or, is locked out of the Apartment and requests that Owner, its employees or agents, [or] Building staff, unlock the Apartment, Owner shall be entitled to the charges set forth in the lease rider.”And then in a rider under the heading “Fees” the lease goes on to state that:“Tenant agrees to the following fees from owner:…B. Lost or unreturned keyfob or keycard ($100.00); C. Opening apartment entry door for locked-out tenant ($75.00);…H. Fees are subject to reasonable increases by owner.”Here is another lease provision:“KEYS/SECURITY: Tenant shall not remove, alter, or change in any way the existing locks, security codes, or keys or keycards that are provided for the apartment or any part thereof. Tenant shall not transfer to or share with any person a key or a keycard for the apartment. Tenant agrees and understands that tenant will be charged a re-keying fee in the sum of $50 each time a key or keycard replacement is deemed necessary by landlord. Said charges shall be deemed additional rent.”Is any of this legal?Links:• Real Property Law § 235-i (Unreasonable tenant fees for reproductions of keys) (2021)• DHCR Fact Sheet 14 Rent Reductions for Decreases Services• DHCR Application for a Rent Reduction Based on Decreased Services (Form RA-81)• For Rent Stabilized tenants, the rule is articulated in a DHCR decision entitled Various Tenants of 140-50 Ash Ave, Administrative Review Docket Number MN110005RT• Tenant Law Podcast Website• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com

In this episode we discuss whether and when you must allow your landlord into your apartment to do needed repairs. We also discuss how much notice you are entitled to and what kind of control you can assert over the repair process. Can you pick the contractor? Can you do the work yourself and then deduct from the rent? These and other questions are tackled in this episode. Links:• Tenant Law Podcast Website• New York City Housing Maintenance Code § 27-2008 (Owner’s right of access)• Housing Preservation and Development regulation § 25-101 (Owner’s Right of Access and Requirements for Notification)• Sometimes tenant says, “I need to see the contractor’s license.” I cannot find any authority that gives tenant a right to ask for a contractor’s license before allowing them to enter the apartment. In fact, I found a DHCR proceeding where a tenant was not allowed to challenge repairs that the landlord did on the basis that the contractor was unlicensed. In The Matter of the Administrative Appeal of Joann Brown; DHCR Admin. Rev. Dckt. No. PK210080RT (3/12/02); LVT Number: 15801.• Tenant Law Podcast Free Booklet – How to Get Repairs in Your NYC Apartment• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

In Episode 42 we are discussing a recent case out of Queens landlord-tenant court that concerns the anti-retaliatory-eviction law, Real Property Law § 223-b. Links:• Tenant Law Podcast Website• Real Property Law § 223-b• Today’s Case is Li-Johnson v. Sierra, 2024 WL 4896875 [New York City Civil Court, Queens County 2024]• Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com

In this episode we examine the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act, which prohibits real estate brokers from passing their fees onto residential tenants where the broker is exclusively representing the landlord’s interests. This would include brokers who publish listings with the landlord’s permission. Landlords and their agents are also required to disclose the fees that the tenant must pay in their listings and rental agreements. This law is new and changes things a lot. Whenever that is the case, the law can get off to a bumpy start. We look at what those bumps might be and what you can do to protect yourself. Links: • Tenant Law Podcast Website • Local Law 119 of 2024 (Click item 18) • New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection • Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.

In this episode we look at a January 8, 2025 Business Insider article with the headline: “Man Sues Co-Living Company After Being Housed with a Serial Killer”. You simply cannot make this stuff up. In a 15-page lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, a tenant said that a co-living company breached its duty to him when the company placed him with a roommate it knew to be dangerous and unfit and ignored the fact that the roommate had already exhibited abnormal, alarming, and erratic behavior, the roommate had not paid rent in a year, and the roommate threatened the tenant. Nevertheless, the co-living company denied the tenant’s requests to be relocated after he raised concern about his safety. And then the roommate allegedly killed three sleeping homeless men and another person, over a four-day period. To add insult to injury, when the police busted through the apartment door to arrest the roommate-alleged-serial-killer, they arrested everyone in the apartment, including the complaining tenant, who was obviously later released. This episode is not merely going to be about a sensational roommate-from-hell story. The company in this LA story is based in New York City and operates here and has at least a dozen competitors doing co-living business here in New York City. Co-living has become more and more common as a natural response to the New York City housing shortage. We have so often seen situations where tenants in co-living situations feel compromised. Today’s episode is about what you, as a tenant in a co-living situation where you feel unsafe, can do to get your co-living landlord to be more responsive to your request to move you quickly to another apartment or to refund your money. Links: • Tenant Law Podcast Website • “Man Sues Co-Living Company After Being Housed with a Serial Killer” • Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com

In this episode we discuss a recent case where an ex-husband attempted to evict his ex-wife and their child from a home that he owed, which she did not. We take a deep dive on the familial exception to eviction. Links: • Tenant Law Podcast Website • Today’s Case • Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com

In Episode 38 we discuss a recent eviction case that was dismissed when the tenant pointed out to the judge that the landlord lacked capacity to sue because of the defunct status of its limited liability company, which is easy for anyone to look up regarding their landlord. Links: • Tenant Law Podcast Website • Today’s Case • NYS Department of State Division of Corporations look-up portal for the status of corporations and limited liability companies. • Suggest future topics at questions@tenantlearningplatform.com.