Lucas A. Ferrara in New York Times, Real Estate Section, PROMISES, PROMISES SHOULD BE IN WRITING, June 19, 2010

By: Jay Romano

Q.      I recently used Craigslist to find an apartment. The person showing the place said the building had a laundry room. But when I moved in, I discovered the building did not have on-site laundry. The management company acknowledged that the agent who showed the unit had made a "misrepresentation" and said it would try to find another tenant -- but would hold me to the lease until then. I don't see any urgency in its efforts. Is there anything I can do?

A.       Lucas A. Ferrara, a Manhattan real estate lawyer, says most lease forms provide that the tenant does not rely on any oral representations made by anyone before the signing of the agreement -- unless those promises were incorporated into the written lease. "If the lease is silent as to the availability of laundry-related equipment or services," Mr. Ferrara said, "the tenant will be hard pressed to assert a claim that she was somehow misled." He said the tenant could ask to be released from the lease, and perhaps offer to forfeit the security deposit.