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Every so often the Schenectady Police Department puts out the listing of sex offenders. This one is from last April. Sorry I didn’t get it up here sooner.
I don’t know what the laws are regarding renting to sex offenders, but you as the landlord should certainly know that’s who you’re renting to. However you may not know it until its too late.
If you have a question on your application asking if the potential tenant has been convicted, and the potential tenant doesn’t tell you, then you would have a case for eviction.
Anyway, here’s Schenectady’s List as of last April: sex offenders list April 2010
There are rules and laws in New York State that prevent discrimination by the landlord of who can live with your tenant. These are found in Real Property Law section 235.
But there is no law that I could find, either in the City of Schenectady Codes or the State of New York that sets “Occupancy Standards.” For this we can refer to The Department of Housing and Urban Development, aka HUD.
Section 8 is a part of HUD.
HUD has what is known as a “Statement of Policy” regarding occupancy standards. It appears to be a guide as to how many people can or should occupy a rental. [Link guide here]
In a nutshell, depending on the number of bedrooms and their size, two people per bedroom plus one would be reasonable. So if you have a two bedroom apartment of average size, then a total occupancy of five people would be reasonable. But there is leeway here and you the landlord should set your standard up clearly in your lease.
This is HUD’s Occupancy Standard list: Occupancy Standards
