Tips
- Contact the DHCR to inquire about your apartment rental history and legal status.
- Know your legal rights — visit the Research Page to follow useful links.
- Keep a record of all rent payments (e.g., canceled check, money order, etc.).
- Send any and all correspondence that could be used in court via USPS certified mail. Your (spoken) word — or anyone else's for that matter — means nothing in a court of law, but burden of proof in the form of written and certified documentation will back you up every time.
- Legal actions are always timely. Keep your documents organized, so that at a moment's notice you are prepared to respond quickly to any potential action.
- Review everything. Dot your i's and cross your t's to mitigate the risk of your landlord's attorney's attempt to dismiss a case based on the technicalities of clerical errors.
- Never, ever assume that just because "someone said so," it is correct. Until you verify information for yourself, consider it heresay.
- If you are overwhelmed with a legal situation, get an attorney. The money you might try to save by foregoing an attorney could cost you your home in the long run.
page revision: 30, last edited: 05 May 2014 23:20