Reena Gulati Blog

What is a shared meter condition? It is when the utility meter that measures gas and electric or steam provided to a tenant also includes common areas that are the responsibility of the owner but are being billed on the tenant’s meter. This is in contravention of the current New York Shared Meter Law. Shared meter conditions can arise accidentally or intentionally. Either way, they are not permissible. The shared meter condition must be eliminated, or the meter must be placed in the name of the owner/landlord and the owner will remain responsible for all charges. This law cannot be waived by the tenant, owner, or utility company. Shared meter conditions are contrary to public policy.

Most people form a limited liability Company to shield their personal assets from liability and debts of the LLC. Did you realize that most single member LLC's are at risk to pierce the corporate veil? You can avoid that outcome by taking certain steps. These small steps if done right can be very beneficial in avoiding liability that you never intended to take on but can be devastating for any business, particularly for a small business owner.

1. Don't wait. Often during the course of the tenancy, the tenant falls behind in rent or is a habitual offender and fails to pay rent in a timely manner. You as the landlord hope that it will come any day or the next week, as promised. If the tenant is behind in rental payments, the landlord should start a legal proceeding to evict immediately. In most circumstances waiting any longer is almost always detrimental to the landlord. This is because the law requires that adequate notice must be provided to the tenant prior to evicting them, which causes further delays in evicting the nonpaying tenant. The landlord continues to lose time and additional rent.

Have you ever experienced attempting to refinance or obtain a loan only to find there is a judgment against your name or your business? Do you believe that the judgment is erroneous? Or that the incorrect entity has been sued? Often, the business owner does not find out about the judgment until the service of a Marshal’s Notice. In these instances, the business owner either never received proper notice of the lawsuit or failed to respond to a complaint and a default judgment was entered against the business owner.

In this economy, a lot of people either prefer to start their own business or are compelled to because of the current job market and decide to take the plunge into the realm of being a business owner. This is your window of opportunity. Wonderful! Now let's be smart about it.