$ublet 'hotels' very homey
Annie Karni
Social Links for Annie Karni
CASH INN: Tokunbo Anifalaje (left) rents her Brooklyn apartment -- often at nightly rates -- for big profits. Alex Rud
They've turned prime New York City rentals into cash cows.
Locals struggling to make ends meet are raking in as much as $10,000 a month by illegally subletting their rental apartments.
When Tony Chavez, 26, lost his job at a hedge fund in January, he couldn't afford to pay rent on his $2,500-a-month, three-bedroom apartment on the Lower East Side.
He also couldn't afford to give up the amazing deal.
"I had to leave the apartment, or deplete my savings," recalled Chavez. Instead of breaking his lease, Chavez crashed on a friend's couch and started renting out his pad for between $250 and $350 a night, raking in $10,000 on a good month.
He hardly missed his job after realizing that he could turn a $60,000-a-year profit just by moving out of his apartment.
Tokunbo Anifalaje, 35, a graduate student in urban planning at the Pratt Institute, moved out of her Brooklyn apartment in July and started renting it out to bring in extra cash.
"I'm an entrepreneur, and I saw this as another opportunity," said Anifalaje, who offers her renters car service to and from the airport. "I've been booked for the past month and a half, save for a few nights."
Anifalaje now lives in New Haven, Conn. "I drive into the city, or I sleep on friends' couches," she said.
She pays just under $1,000 a month rent on her Brooklyn pad and sublets to tourists for $100 a night, turning a $2,000 profit in a good month.
In order to legally sublet an apartment, renters are required to obtain written permission from their landlords, according to state law. It's also illegal to charge more than 10 percent above the rent.
The vast majority of rental apartments in New York City are also considered Class A apartments, and it is illegal to sublet them for less than 30 consecutive days.
But thousands of New Yorkers sublet on the sly, hiking up their rents to turn their leases into nightly moneymakers.
Critics say the main problem is security.
"You have to be concerned about the comings and goings in the building, and you need to know who you're renting to," said Councilwoman Gale Brewer. "If people need help making ends meet, they should work on getting a roommate."
But more than 1,500 brazen New Yorkers are subletting their apartments — many on a night-to-night basis, like hotels — on AirBNB.com.
Some New Yorkers said they've even signed leases on other units.
Lee Chen, 37, who was laid off in January from a job programming software, started renting out his $2,800-a-month one-bedroom in the Flatiron District.
The plan was so lucrative he leased another apartment in the neighborhood that he now rents out nightly. Between his two leases, Chen said he brings in $6,000 a month.
Read Next Close call for cop who saves own life in struggle over gun