Ny Tenant - Husband And Wife Landlords Are Fighting Over The Rent. What Am I Supposed To Do?

I’m a tenant in New York City and I’m caught in the middle of a dispute between my landlords, who are husband and wife. Both of them are listed as the landlords on my signed lease.

For context, I signed a two-year lease that began in Decemver 2024. The lease lists both spouses as co-landlords but does not specify separate payment instructions or require splitting rent between them. It simply states the total monthly rent amount and that it is to be paid to the landlords. At the closing of the rental, they JOINTLY instructed me to pay the rent to the husband via Zelle.

For the entire time I’ve lived here, I’ve paid the rent the same way (to the husband), typically via electronic transfer to the account he designated at the start of the tenancy. This arrangement was never objected to by either party until recently.

About a month ago, the wife began emailing me demanding that I immediately change how I pay. She claims I must send half the rent directly to her because she owns 50% of the apartment. She has also sent me formal demand letters threatening legal action if I don’t comply.

The husband has told me to ignore her demands and continue paying as I always have unless both landlords agree in writing to different payment instructions or there is a court order.

I don’t want to take sides. I don’t want to withhold rent. I don’t want to get sued by either of them. I just want to keep paying rent the way I have been paying it for the entire tenancy. I only have a few months left on the lease…

My questions are:

1. Am I legally allowed to continue paying the husband as I always have until there’s a court order or joint written instructions from both landlords?
2. Should I refuse to change anything until they resolve their dispute?
3. If the wife files a Housing Court case against me, is that likely to be dismissed since I’m willing to pay and the dispute is really between the owners?
4. Is there anything I should be doing now to protect myself?

I’m trying to do the right thing here, but I feel like I’m being dragged into someone else’s marital/property dispute. Any insight from New York attorneys, landlords, or tenants who have dealt with something similar would be greatly appreciated. I’m very worried to have a housing court case against me for this nonsense. I intend to keep paying the rent to the husband, as I can’t unilaterally make any changes to payment terms with only one landlord.

Location: New York City