Okay so I'm losing my mind a little. I lease a 2BR in Crown Heights and my roommate wants to add her boyfriend to the lease because he's basically here 4-5 nights a week now. Our landlord sent over a "lease amendment" saying he needs to do a new application, submit income docs, and pay an amendment fee, and also wants to bump our security deposit. Is that even allowed? I thought in NYC you could just add a roommate as an occupant without going through the whole lease underwriting. We're both on the original lease. I don't want to pick a fight with my roommate, but I also don't want to hand over more money if the landlord is just making up a fee. Has anyone done this without a whole new lease?

Ooh this is the exact kind of lease fine-print rabbit hole I love!! First thing, big_city_beth: check whether your original lease actually says "no additional occupants without written consent" or something narrower—it matters! If he's being added as a leaseholder, the landlord can usually run an application and charge actual costs, but a random "amendment fee" with no explanation is worth pushing back on! Ask for the fee breakdown in writing! And have you tried asking for a simple occupant rider instead? That can be way less invasive than a full new lease. If he's just going to be your roommate's spouse/domestic partner/family member, there are different rules! Please update us!

I'm new to this too but when my sister moved in with me in Dyker last year the landlord also tried to make us do a whole new lease and wanted to raise the rent. I asked if we could do a rider just adding her as an occupant and after a lot of back and forth he said yes but kept the original rent. I didn't even think about the security deposit part. Does an occupant rider mean the new person isn't responsible for rent? Because in my case the lease is still only my name, and my sister pays me her half. Maybe ask if the boyfriend can just be listed as an occupant with no financial liability? Does your roommate want him to be fully on the hook or just official so the super stops complaining?

I'd slow down before you sign anything, Beth. If you add him as a full leaseholder, you're making him jointly responsible for the whole rent, and that can be fine or can get messy quick. Also, the security deposit bump for an existing apartment is a red flag unless there's some actual new risk. Landlords try this "amendment fee" nonsense because people don't ask what it covers. Ask for it as an itemized charge and see if it suddenly disappears. If your management company is a bigger one, search their form rider—some charge an application fee only, not an amendment fee. And yeah, the roommate/partner laundry thing is a whole other issue, but don't let that make you feel like you have to put him on the lease to keep the peace. You can say no to his name on the lease and still be a decent roommate.

Wait, I'm in almost the same situation in Bath Beach, except the landlord is saying my roommate's girlfriend has been here too many nights and now needs a full application plus an amendment fee plus first/last again. I didn't know they couldn't make up fees. So if I ask for the fee breakdown and they say it's for "lease processing," is that legal? And if we refuse to add her, can they start a holdover case? I don't want to risk my lease but I also don't have money for made-up charges. Did you end up asking your landlord for a rider? Following this thread.

This is real close to the earlier thread about a partner who has keys and does laundry five nights a week—if the issue is more about him being embedded in the apartment than the fee, the discussion at Roommate’s partner has keys and does laundry here five nights a week—am I the lease police? Roommate’s partner has keys and does laundry here five nights a week—am I the lease police? might help. For the lease part, I'd get your landlord's request in writing, ask which clause of the current lease requires an amendment, and call the city's tenant helpline before paying anything. In my old place, the property manager tried to charge an amendment fee, then backed off when I asked for a written invoice. Don't hand over money just to keep the peace.