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We have been in our apartment nearly 2 years. We have been model tenants--paid rent early every month, asked for very few repairs (of things that were incorrectly installed in the renovations prior to our tenancy), broke nothing, caused no damage, made no noise, followed every building rule to the letter, etc. etc.
We have an anonymous absentee landlord--we are not permitted to even know his name--and go through a big NYC management firm. One guy there, in particular.
We rented at the height of the market, and now rents have fallen considerably in our area. Our lease is up for renewal, and we said we'd stay if they would decrease our rent to meet the market. No reply. Re-sent 10 days later, got "The landlord is not interested in decreasing the rent. We understand your need to move."
Then the elevator went out--for 10 days so far--and we live on the 6th floor and also can't access the laundry without it. The power went out several times over a few weeks. Our living room radiator started spewing water. And etc.--all of a sudden several pretty big problems requiring emails to the managing agent. None were answered.
Apparently the landlord was highly insulted that we asked for a rent decrease, took it out on the managing agent, and now the agent is mad at us.
Now we need a reference letter in order to get a new apartment, and the managing agent told my husband that--despite paying on time, and no complaints of any kind for 22 months--that they will give us a bad reference because I have been so "difficult" in the past 2 weeks.
Is that even legal? Isn't the reference supposed to be based on our payment, maintenance of the unit, and following of the building rules? Can they give us a bad reference because we requested a rent decrease, and have emailed complaints about the lack of elevator, electricity, and heat?
He also intimated that because of my "difficult" behavior we shouldn't hold our breath about getting back our full security deposit, either.
This is the kind of situation that the Housing forum on Craigslist is good at.
I'm no expert, but
1.a reference letter isn't actually required, and you can probably explain your way around it. Perhaps you can counter that with no hard evidence of your being a bad tenant, the agent should be careful himself.
2.I doubt you can pre-empt the bad behavior, but after you're gone, you can write a polite but firm letter saying that although you were disappointed that it ended badly, since you all know that you were good tenants and they have no evidence to the contrary, you expect the full security deposit and would like it sent to the following address.
3.Take photographs of the apartment before you leave, to prove it's in good shape. Keep those emails, of course.
4.Be prepared to go to small claims court, if necessary.
Thanks, by the way, for proving something I've been saying. People think that everything is negotiable and that it doesn't hurt to ask - but that's not true.
Take photos now of the apartment. Being me, what I would do is... Kindly write a letter to the management office, letting them know what they did and the response you have received from the agent.
It's not a crime to ask for a rent reduction. Question asked & answered. So there is no reason to get so nasty about it, unless your initial contact wasn't so nice! And you're not telling us the whole story.
1. Make sure that you get all of this documented. Send certified letters with a list of the things that need repaired and when the first time you requested these changes were.
2. Gather all of your bank account information - not just your savings and credit score, but you can also show that your rent checks were all deposited in the beginning of the month, hence you pay your rent on time.
3. Try to get a reference from your boss or a former landlord if you absolutely need one.
As for the security deposit:
1. Again make sure you put your 30 days notice in a certified letter.
2. Your landlord may try to avoid meeting you to get the keys, so they can say that if they never got the keys, you can't get your deposit back. Make sure you also send your keys via certified mail if this is the case.
3. Make sure you take pictures of the whole apartment, every wall and ceiling, so that they can't claim damages.
I just went through something similar to this. landlordintel.com is a website I used a lot. It takes you step-by-step through the process.
>> Again make sure you put your 30 days notice in a certified letter.
My last landlord didn't give me my security back.
I took him to small claims and the judge asked me if I had "a 30 day written notice". I didn't and lost.
So that is the most important thing if you have to take him to small clains court.
The landlord did pay, though . . . hehehehe
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