Can Landlord Prohibit Tenant Move Outs?

Landlords cannot force a tenant to remain in a building as far as I know. I think a couple weeks ago, a few buildings enacted "no move in/out" policies, but these were abandoned (I believe because there is no legal rationale, but I am guessing as to the reasons).

That said, the virus is not a valid reason (yet) to break a lease. So if you have a lease, the landlord can still demand some compensation for breaking the lease. But, they cannot physically keep you from leaving.

This is my understanding from familiarity with a few related situations – I have no special knowledge, nor am I a lawyer.

A landlord has no legal basis for barring a tenant from vacating a property at any time. Moving services are considered essential. Rent is due as per the lease, till the end of either the physical tenancy or the lease term, whichever is later. Should the landlord attempt to force an extension of the physical tenancy beyond the lease term, the tenant should be justified in paying rent only until the end of the lease. You may need to sue to recover the full security deposit, which will require documentation that the unit was vacated and left in broom-clean condition.

George, do you know if the landlord could be liable for damages of the tenant signed a lease elsewhere and is blocked from moving in? Is there potential criminal liability for the landlord? It seems a bit like the case where the landlord locks someone out or puts his belongings on the street without proper eviction procedure. In this case, the landlord is locking you in. Have you heard about landlords trying this in NYC before or now? Many thanks.

I would think that if a tenant signed a lease on a new place, was prevented from moving out by their current landlord, paid rent to the new landlord but stopped paying the current landlord, there is a decent chance a court would rule that the tenant wasn't liable to the current landlord for any rent for that time period and that would be the extent of mitigating the tenant's damages.

Agree with 30. Immediately stop paying anything to the current landlord, collect documentation of the prohibited move-out, and prepare to sue for your security deposit back. Keep copies of your correspondence demanding to move your possessions out and the LL's response.

Plus they can't put your things on the street. They have to put everything in a storage facility, tell you where it is and then I think you have a month to clear it out or start paying for storage.