Q: We’re tenants in a market-rate rental constructing on the Higher West Facet. The laundry machines are within the basement, which is a typical space. The issue is that the basement is filled with junk — which I used to be keen to place up with, however now I’ve seen a rat nosing round. There’s a full-size sofa that’s been left for months, a broken-down air-conditioner on the ground, an extension twine coiled across the pipes, and a knife block full of knives sitting on the electrical meter. It’s unclear the place all these things got here from. In addition to the rats, I’m apprehensive that the junk is a hearth hazard. I’ve referred to as 311 to make a criticism, however what else might be finished?
A: Leaving rubbish in frequent areas to draw rats and create fireplace hazards violates New York’s habitability legal guidelines, which maintain landlords answerable for conserving residences and buildings secure and livable. However despite the fact that the regulation is in your aspect, getting landlords and administration corporations to reply isn’t all the time straightforward.
Begin with a letter to your landlord and administration firm describing the situations within the basement and the issues the junk creates. Maintain copies of your letter, in addition to any response that you just obtain, and take photographs documenting the issue.
“Clearly, having this stuff within the frequent areas is a hearth hazard,” stated Samuel J. Himmelstein, an actual property lawyer in Manhattan. “Having knives there appears to be actually, actually loopy.”
Your name to 311 will seemingly end in a go to from an inspector from the Division of Buildings or Housing Preservation and Growth, who can challenge a violation. The issue is, landlords usually don’t reply to those citations as a result of the implications aren’t nice sufficient. Generally the town will file a case in housing courtroom if the violations aren’t addressed, however that occurs when the violations are excessive.
The following step is housing courtroom, the place you possibly can file a lawsuit to deal with these violations. That is efficient, however might be difficult for market-rate tenants, as a result of a landlord can then resolve to not renew your lease. (Hire-stabilized tenants have safety from this type of motion.) This retaliation shouldn’t be authorized, but it surely’s troublesome to show. Even if you happen to can show that your landlord retaliated in opposition to you, you would possibly win a one-year lease renewal and nothing extra. That’s as a result of after it’s dominated on, your declare of retaliation would go away, and the owner may decline to resume your lease from there, Mr. Himmelstein stated.
Should you recruit your neighbors to file a lawsuit en masse, you possibly can break up the lawyer’s price and presumably dilute any retaliatory actions by your landlord.
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