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Ask Real Estate

What if Friends Stay Past the Landlord’s Limit?

Credit...Federica Del Proposto

Q. I have been living in the same rent-stabilized apartment in Midtown East for decades. I am planning a trip of as long as six weeks to Europe, swapping apartments with a friend who lives in Italy. There would be no exchange of money. My landlord says I am allowed to have a visitor for no more than 30 days. What would happen if I had two guests stay, one for 20 days and the other for 25 days?

A. You are allowed to have a houseguest for up to 30 days so long as he does not pay you any money, according to Alexander Schnell, a spokesman in the mayor’s office of criminal justice. The logic goes: If no money changes hands, then the visitor is a houseguest and the arrangement would not violate short-term rental rules.

There is no harm in asking your landlord if you can have two guests stay, each for fewer than 30 days, but for a total that exceeds the cap. If no is the answer, proceed at your own risk. If you push the limits of this rule, you could get into hot water. Would you lose your apartment? Probably not. Could you end up in housing court? Maybe. Bend the rules and “you are certainly putting yourself in jeopardy of getting yourself in a lawsuit,” said William Gribben, a tenant lawyer and a partner at Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Joseph in Manhattan. His colleague, Samuel J. Himmelstein, was also part of the conversation.

Remember, you will be thousands of miles away from your apartment, unable to intervene should an angry landlord try to lay down the law. Let’s say the landlord signs off on your first guest, but not your second one. When the landlord finds out that you invited another person to stay without permission, he or she could try to prevent the second guest from entering the apartment. Would the landlord be within his or her rights to do that? Probably not. But, on a practical level, “how are you going to do anything about it when you are overseas?” Mr. Himmelstein said.

You might save some money swapping your apartment for six weeks rather than four. But doing so could cause you legal trouble, leaving you kicking yourself for not checking into a hotel for the last two weeks of your travels.

To submit your question or comments, email realestateqa@nytimes.com.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section RE, Page 2 of the New York edition with the headline: What Can the Landlord Do If My Friends Overstay His Limit?. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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