Can You Make Changes To The Lease in NYC Before You Sign?
Generally, you should go in as a renter expecting that you can’t make changes to the lease. Most landlords do not allow changes to their apartment leases. Most landlords have used the same “standard” apartment lease for decades. There are a few different types of apartment leases floating around and most landlords use one of these versions.
NOTE: To search for NYC apartments, go to frele.com (free service). Or, click for more rental tips.
Note that if you are renting directly from a condo or coop owner, you may have more luck with an individual owner in terms of making changes to the lease. But again, these are usually very standard leases. Generally the building’s managing agent states what lease form you need to use. There are usually only a few different variations floating around.
However, here is an example of some common changes to the apartment lease which are usually accepted
While I am not an attorney and can’t offer any legal advice, I will mention one area where changes to the lease are common: If you are renting in a condo, a standard lease used is the A101 Blumberg lease. This leases has two clauses which are often deemed “unfair” by the landlord and the prospective tenant. For this reason, you can usually get the landlord to cross out these two clauses. They are clauses 17 and 42. Clause 17 is about the lease ending early due to a sale of the unit and clause 42 is about the rental price changing during the lease term based on the owner’s monthly condo charges.
Once in a while a landlord will use his or her own “custom” lease instead of one of the “standard” ones. If you are unsure if it is a standard or custom lease you can try to google the type of lease (usually shown in the upper left hand corner) and see what comes up.
In this case you should read the apartment lease very carefully. Because it is a custom lease, there is some precedent for changes being made to the lease in this situation. As a prospective tenant, it would be reasonable to suggest some changes if you think something does not seem right. However, once again, there is no guarantee that a landlord would be willing to make any changes, especially if they have been using these apartment leases for a very long time.
You Can Always Walk Away from the Lease Signing
If you ever feel strongly about making changes to the lease over a landlord’s objections, you can threaten to walk away from the apartment. Of course, this may not change the landlord’s mind but at least you are not signing something when you don’t feel comfortable.
On my website frele, you can search for thousands of NYC apartments for rent. The lease and the language used depends on the particular landlord. Hopefully these thoughts will help guide you through any questions you have. Note that we are a totally free site to use.
For more NYC rental tips, please go to frele.com/learn.
This article was written by:
Phil Horigan, NYC Real Estate Veteran
Founder, Frēlē, the free and honest NYC rental marketplace
Producer, Phil’s NYC Rental Tips [YouTube Channel]
Blogger: flowfreely.com
Instagram: @philiphorigan
Phil has been a licensed NYC real estate agent since 2004 working for some of the top real estate brokerage firms in the industry. He founded Leasebreak.com in 2013, and Frēlē in 2017. Frēlē and Leasebreak are free and transparent rental marketplaces to search for or post apartments for rent in NYC
Go to frele.com to search for NYC apartments (free service).