My boyfriend never got to sign the nine month lease on the apartment because the landlord forgot to ask for his signature (The landlord's is on it). He paid the security deposit and the first month's rent but never got receipts for them. He doesn't want to live there anymore because of the appalling living conditions. He documented them with his camera. Now the landlord wants him to pay both the first month's rent for October and the last month's security deposit for May. He is also forcing my boyfriend to sublet the apartment before the end of the month. My boyfriend told the landlord he was going to move out of the apartment by the end of the month, but the landlord told a new tenant the apartment was available for move in the next day. When my boyfriend came home today, he found the door of the apartment open and the landlord eating in the kitchen of his apartment!

I know my tenant's rights, but this situation is really getting out of hand. I told my boyfriend to go to a tenant's rights organization and to go to the local legal aid office to get advice.

I wanted to know if there are any other things my boyfriend should be aware of?

We live in NYC.

If there was no lease, then your boyfriend was renting month to month. Under NYC law, a landlord has to provide a month to month tenant with 30 days notice before the landlord can evict the month to month tenant. If the landlord was in the apartment without cause, then your boyfriend can file a police report for trespass.

Here is the Legal Aid Society for Mid NY http://www.lasmny.org/

Good luck!

Jackie's email is on point. The only thing i would add, is that usually, a landlord can access the leasehold for certain reasons, such as fire, maintenance, etc. Before you file a police report, i would just confirm that teh landlord had no legitimate reason for being in your boyfriend's residence.

Thanks for the help. The issue has been resolved. My boyfriend found out he rented an illegally converted basement apartment, so the Department of Buildings has gotten involved and will be sending inspectors to inspect the building.