Co op application - sublet history

Your current rent payments will be part of the application, either via your bank statements or your other financial disclosures regarding current and projected monthly expenses. You can talk to your broker or attorney about how to frame the situation; a buyers broker in particular may have a board-specific recommendation once you settle on a specific place.

Can your actual landlord, the coop shareholder whose apartment you live in, write a brief reference? (Not the building or its management.)

Alternatively, rent for a year in a more legitimate situation while you shop around for a place to buy.

Wow, this one's tough. I agree with U_Joe's recommendation that you will want to check in with your broker and the lisitng broker regarding the specific board of the building you want to buy into.

In an ideal world, your landlord would immediately call his managing agent and say, "there has been a sublet situation, mea culpa, I'm now kicking the guy out, but you can help me if you'll write a letter that says there have been no complaints from X date to Y date."

Then you file that, plus a letter from your landlord stating that you've had a sublet from X date to Y date, and there has always been prompt rent payment and a quiet tenancy, as your "landlord letter."

ali r.
{downtown broker}

ali, why the need for a letter from managing agent? I would think the owner of coop apt can write a letter stating that stick_man was a good tenant and paid rent on time. Unless, stick_man has been a bad tenant.

But mercer, isn't the landlord an interested party? Any landlord will probably write a letter saying that a good tenant has been a good tenant, but don't you also think that many landlords would write a letter saying that a lousy tenant has been a good tenant if the act of writing that letter helps the lousy tenant move on?

I'm sure that doesn't apply in stick's situation, but I bet that's why the boards would rather hear from the managing agent.

Let's not overcomplicate things. I'm with 300_mercer on this.

Stick_man, if you are buying a place and filling out a board application, I would recommend being as honest as possible. I would put your current address where you are subletting your apartment, however, the board is NOT your landlord it's the individual that owns your apartment that is your landlord and can be your reference. You NEVER want to get in a situation where they catch you lying--be honest and say, I am moving because the building had an unofficial flexible sublet policy and have now decided to crack down on the sublet policy and that is the reason you want to move. HONESTY is the BEST POLICY!