Long Beach rental: Problem Landlord/Code Violations? (Boston, West End: apartments, rentals)

[lbnewbie84]

Hi All:

Me and my boyfriend are renting what we may believe to be an illegal lower-level apartment in a two-family house in the West End of town. Despite going through a Century 21 realtor, paying fees, and the whole 9 we suspect the apartment to be an illegal rental, despite the house being zoned as a 2 family on mynassauproperty.com -- we assume it is illegal due to several major code violations we've seen in the place (e.g. improperly vented sump tank in a closet, dilapidated front entryway mudroom with black mold, etc) and the fact that while utilities are included in our rent, there is no separate meter, and the tenants upstairs pay the utilities, obviously an unfair situation for them!

Anyhow, we've been having some issues with our landlord who is absentee and lives in Boston, and while the apartment is by no means uninhabitable, we just wanted to know what sort of rights we have when and if we complain to the city due to the blatant violations going on in our abode. Before I ramble further, the key problems are a few things:

1. After a new tenant moved in upstairs, the landlord came down and messed with the boiler in the garage (which we don't have access to) and now we don't get very hot water anymore. it's hot, but not hot hot, not the refreshing hot you get when you just need to relax in the shower. I know the legal right is 120 degrees, but I have yet to take a thermometer and measure it.

2. Our front mudroom/entry way, while able to be closed off with a door, is falling apart from the porch upstairs and when it rains heavily it rains into our mudroom. Not really enjoyable. Also there is major mold buildup along the walls, its pretty much falling apart.

3. During the humid summer months mold grows like crazy in any dark and moist place, i.e. everywhere.

*** 4. The sump tank and pump (cess pool?) is located in a closet in the kitchen with no ventilation, and its where our toilet and water and the washer and dryer from the upstairs are pumped into the sewer. This HAS to be a MAJOR violation, right? We get gross sewer-like fumes from time to time that leak out of the closet. I've read all about this being combustible, but we were wondering what kind of "rights" we have here or if this type of set-up is the norm for Long Beach, especially in the west end? Does anyone know?

Thanks, I am a newbie at this sorta thing and was hoping some locals or at least Long Islanders familiar with this thing to weigh-in and offer some advice. You may be wondering why we are living here, and despite the downsides it has some good qualities, being a block from the water is one of them. Me and my boyfriend are also young and at the start of our careers and trying to save as much $ as possible by finding a cheap place to rent, and we really don't want to go above $1400.

Thanks in advance for any feedback,
JH

[superfly10]

Step 1 is to notify your landlord of the complaints in writing and give him an opportunity to fix them... the mold in particular is a big problem and can make you sick.

The sump pump is also an issue if the sewer line trap is not vented, fumes can back up from the cesspool. The appliances themselves should be vented too.

The mold itself might make an apartment "uninhabitable" as it's a health hazard.

If he refuses to fix it, you can take him to court, file a complaint and use these issues to break your lease.

[lbnewbie84]

Thanks for the feedback -- the problem is that these issues aren't easily fixable, and our landlords for all intents and purposes are young and dumb and are losing $ on this property since they bought it at the top of the market. Anyhow, for the mold to be resolved they'd pretty much have to redo the renovation which is obviously not going to happen.

As for the issue of the sump pump/cesspool located in our kitchen closet, is this kind of thing typical for Long Beach? We are located near the water where water pressure is obviously an issue, but there must be some way to have it set up so that gross fumes don't leak out into our kitchen. Again, this seems like a big renovation issue that won't be fixed by a simple work order request. Any advice other than find another apartment?

Thanks again for your help!

[Jdawg8181]

Originally Posted by superfly10

Step 1 is to notify your landlord of the complaints in writing and give him an opportunity to fix them... the mold in particular is a big problem and can make you sick.

The sump pump is also an issue if the sewer line trap is not vented, fumes can back up from the cesspool. The appliances themselves should be vented too.

The mold itself might make an apartment "uninhabitable" as it's a health hazard.

If he refuses to fix it, you can take him to court, file a complaint and use these issues to break your lease.

As much as this may very be an illegal apartment, I don't know if you would win in court. You should have checked all this out before you moved in.

What does lead me to believe it's illegal is that there is only one meter. I could be wrong but I think a legal 2-family would have 2 seperate meters.

LB is filled with illegal rentals.

LB has water problems. The water is very hard there and a lot of the drains can't handle it...thus drain problems and flooding. I have weird issues with my water too.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by lbnewbie84

Hi All:

Me and my boyfriend are renting what we may believe to be an illegal lower-level apartment in a two-family house in the West End of town. Despite going through a Century 21 realtor, paying fees, and the whole 9 we suspect the apartment to be an illegal rental, despite the house being zoned as a 2 family on mynassauproperty.com -- we assume it is illegal due to several major code violations we've seen in the place (e.g. improperly vented sump tank in a closet, dilapidated front entryway mudroom with black mold, etc) and the fact that while utilities are included in our rent, there is no separate meter, and the tenants upstairs pay the utilities, obviously an unfair situation for them!

Anyhow, we've been having some issues with our landlord who is absentee and lives in Boston, and while the apartment is by no means uninhabitable, we just wanted to know what sort of rights we have when and if we complain to the city due to the blatant violations going on in our abode. Before I ramble further, the key problems are a few things:

1. After a new tenant moved in upstairs, the landlord came down and messed with the boiler in the garage (which we don't have access to) and now we don't get very hot water anymore. it's hot, but not hot hot, not the refreshing hot you get when you just need to relax in the shower. I know the legal right is 120 degrees, but I have yet to take a thermometer and measure it.

2. Our front mudroom/entry way, while able to be closed off with a door, is falling apart from the porch upstairs and when it rains heavily it rains into our mudroom. Not really enjoyable. Also there is major mold buildup along the walls, its pretty much falling apart.

3. During the humid summer months mold grows like crazy in any dark and moist place, i.e. everywhere.

*** 4. The sump tank and pump (cess pool?) is located in a closet in the kitchen with no ventilation, and its where our toilet and water and the washer and dryer from the upstairs are pumped into the sewer. This HAS to be a MAJOR violation, right? We get gross sewer-like fumes from time to time that leak out of the closet. I've read all about this being combustible, but we were wondering what kind of "rights" we have here or if this type of set-up is the norm for Long Beach, especially in the west end? Does anyone know?

Thanks, I am a newbie at this sorta thing and was hoping some locals or at least Long Islanders familiar with this thing to weigh-in and offer some advice. You may be wondering why we are living here, and despite the downsides it has some good qualities, being a block from the water is one of them. Me and my boyfriend are also young and at the start of our careers and trying to save as much $ as possible by finding a cheap place to rent, and we really don't want to go above $1400.

Thanks in advance for any feedback,
JH

If there is no separate electricity meter on Long Island specifically for each apartment in the dwelling, it IS an illegal apartment.

If you want to find out about violations, call the City of Long Beach and ask them to inspect the apt. Beware: they probably will tell you you have to move out because it's illegal.

Realtors are not allowed to rent out illegal apartments. You could complain to the broker and tell them you want the fee you paid them back and if they say "no" report them to the NYS Dept. of State, who oversees the licensing of realtors.

[Anthony314]

You aren't going to win in court. Illegals are now completely illegal in Long Beach and the city is currently doing what they can to crack down on them. They will fine your landlord and force you to move.

[I_Love_LI_but]

... the apartment is deemed illegal and the authorities make you move before the lease you have now is up.

See these posts (and also read the entire threads the are in):

http://www.city-data.com/forum/3938647-post12.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/6885692-post33.html

[Chrisk327]

I don't really understand why people come on here complaining about an illegal apartment. 95% of them knew it was illegal when they rented it. Honestly, why do you care if its legal or not? You want something with a deal on rent, but then cry illegal when something isn't in your favor(not you specifically).

If there are problems with the maintance etc, you need to contact your landlord first. I don't see how you are accessing that the whole renovation needs to be redone. Do you have expertise in this? Inform the landlord, or if it is being managed by a property management company, then let them know of the problems and let them come up wiht how to fix.

Maybe the hot water isn't on his care list, but even if it were vacant, he should care about water leaks etc that will ruin his house.

[Jdawg8181]

Just buy. Then at least you know it's legal!

[Anthony314]

Originally Posted by Chrisk327

I don't really understand why people come on here complaining about an illegal apartment. 95% of them knew it was illegal when they rented it. Honestly, why do you care if its legal or not? You want something with a deal on rent, but then cry illegal when something isn't in your favor(not you specifically).

The problem with illegals is that the property tax on that house is for a one family house. 2 Family Houses pay a lot more. So the owner of the illegal house is getting away with not paying taxes they should. the other problem is that when you live in an area that has a parking problem, a ton of illegal apartments make life difficult for those who rightfully live there.

Other then that, I have no problems with Illegals. People need a place to live and there aren't that many cheap options around.