Recent Feedback
Background: I'm a tenant in NY state (Erie County). Recently, I found that a computer I had stored in the basement is missing, only a couple days after my landlord had removed winter tires I kept in the garage and left them to be picked up by sanitation services. Use of the basement or garage is never mentioned in my lease. Never was I informed by the landlord that any of my belongings were to be disposed of, with or without my permission. On a previous occasion, however, my landlord informed me, verbally, to keep my belongings in the basement away from the furnace, which I dutifully agreed to, verbally. My question is twofold. 1) Does my landlord have the right to remove my property from the basement/garage, with or without my assent? (If so, must he provide notice?) 2) Does his previous notice to keep basement belongings clear of the furnace amount to tacit consent that my belongings may be stored in the basement, given that no provisions are provided in the lease?
Optional Information: State/Country of Question: New York
If you were never forbidden from storing your property in the basement, the landlord must provide you with reasonable notice to move your items out. Otherwise, if he moves them without your permission, he becomes liable to you for their value. You do not need to prove tacit consent by pointing to the furnace; the fact that you stored your items there without any formal complaints gives rise to a license to do so--that license can only be withdrawn through notice to you. Sincerely, Dimitry Alexander Kaplun, Esq.
Experience: JA Mentor, Licensed in PA & NJ, specialize in business/contract disputes, estate creation & admin