Can a landlord paint my apartment while I am still living there (without my permission)?

Question

I am a New York City tenant living in a middle-income city-funded building. We have recently been approved to transfer to a different apartment (going from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom) in the same building. We have not been given a new lease to sign yet, but we have signed a transfer agreement stating that we agree to transfer into the 2-bedroom at the newly agreed upon rent.

The building management recently emailed us on 6/28 to inform us that our move-in date will be 7/20. In the same email we were told we need to pick a date within the next 2 weeks (while we are still living there) for the building staff to enter our apartment and repaint it for the next tenants. Their reasoning stated that they have a bunch of transfers all around the same time, and they need to repaint while we are still there to make the transfers go smoothly. They've advised that we need to move all our belongings to the center of the rooms and remove everything from the walls so they can paint.

I'm trying to find out what our rights are in this situation, as we are extremely uncomfortable with them painting while we are still living in the current apartment - to me this is something that they should do between tenants. In addition to the concern of our belongings getting damaged, we have a dog (agreed upon in the lease) who is home by himself during the day, and we are very worried about him with maintenance coming in and out, and with his exposure (let alone our own) to the paint and fumes.

Additionally we are concerned that this would add further risk to our move-out process, as many small scratches and scuffs caused by movers are usually painted over - however in this case they would all remain since the movers will be coming after the painters.

I understand that buildings in NYC are generally required to paint every 3 years, however in our case the building was only completed 2 years ago (we are the first tenants in this apartment and have been there since November, 2011). Also of note is that we have gone over the lease with a fine tooth comb and have not found any language discussing when the landlord may enter the apartment or when they can paint. According to the NYC.gov website, landlords can typically enter at "a reasonable time with reasonable notice, to perform necessary or agreed upon repairs or services."

So in summary - does our landlord have the right to enter our apartment and paint while we are still living there? Would painting constitute "necessary repairs or services" in this case? If they do have this right, have they provided us "reasonable" advanced notice?

Thanks very much.

Answer 1

Of course, they can! The LL never needs your permission to upgrade / repair HIS property and you cannot deny him entry. All he has to do is give you proper notice per NY's landlord / tenant laws.

Answer 2

The process is a domino effect. You are going to move into an apt that someone vacates and someone presumably in your bldg will move in when you vacate and so on. Most always a rental agreement permits owners/mgrs to enter to do necessary maintenance with prior notice. It sounds like you have been given prior notice and the fact they gave you a window of time from which to choose indicates reasonableness on their part.



Pets, especially dogs, present a problem for owners/mgrs. You may need to put your dog in doggie day care or have it spend a day or two with a friend. The flip side is then tenants complain their landlord never does anything. Who would want to given your inflexibility and sense of entitlement to a world free of inconvenience?



On the one hand you want and expect the benefits of a freshly painted apt, on the other hand you are unwilling to make it possible for this to happen. Given the "law" you state that they must paint every 3 yrs, it doesn't say they can't do it more frequently. Who can fault them for doing this more frequently?



Given your attitude displayed in this question, I personally wouldn't want you as a tenant. I also no longer accept dogs for just the issues you raise. It makes it so much more difficult to do any maintenance.

Answer 3

Yes, they can. They don't need your permission, and they didn't even have to ask when a convenient time was. So they are doing you a favor. All they have to do is give you 24 hours notice and they can enter and do what they wish. They have provided you with more than reasonable notice, even allowing you to name the date they come.



Modern paint doesn't have fumes that are harmful.

Answer 4

Yes they need to give you reasonable notice of entry which they did. Be careful. You're attitude could get you a 30 days notice to quit instead of a new lease.

Answer 5

in nc no they can not unless its in your lease and yes you can refuse to let them paint been there done it went to court and won because it was not in my lease