Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 10-01-2013, 10:38 PM
 
7 posts, read 19,262 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hi all,

My roommates and I are having some problems with our landlord and I was hoping for some advice.

First, the basics: I have been a sublessee in a 2BR apartment for the past 3 years. The master tenant, who has resided here since 2006, recently renewed her lease with the landlord through 2014 (I am not on the lease and have no formal relationship with the landlord). Shortly afterward, we began finding bed bugs in the unit and reported it to LL. (We have a third roommate, also a sublessee, who is planning to vacate Nov. 1. He, too, has been here for 3 years)

LL immediately brought in a pest control operator (PCO) to treat the apartment, and while there has been some significant improvement, the infestation has not been altogether eradicated. During a follow-up inspection, the PCO advised that my wooden bed frame was infested and would need to be discarded. (PCO had not indicated this prior to the initial treatment). LL is now working with PCO to schedule a follow-up treatment, to take place after our third roommate has cleared out his belongings and vacated (in other words, as soon as possible after November 1st) and I've discarded my bed frame. Since our belongings will need to be packed and isolated for the bed bug treatment, my roommate and I also figured this would be a good opportunity to ask LL for certain repairs within the apartment (new paint, broken bathroom tiles, water-damaged window sill in the shower, cracks in the plaster, loose electrical outlet covers, damaged flooring in the kitchen, etc.) As such, we requested that the LL meet us on Thursday morning to do a walkthrough of the rental and identify problem areas/concerns.

In the meantime, we have been receiving a series of panicked calls from the LL's wife. Yesterday, she phoned to inform us that tenants on the floor above us found a bed bug in their unit (obviously implying that they came from our unit). While I was at work, our third roommate called her to confirm his move-out date. During this conversation, she advised that the PCO happened to be in the building, inspecting the unit in the floor above us, and asked whether he could come inspect our unit or if she could give him keys to our apartment to inspect it alone. (I'm not clear what she wanted the PCO to look for here, since he'd confirmed during the first follow-up inspection that bed bugs were still present.) Anyway, our third roommate happened to be home and acquiesced, but asked for 30 minutes to tidy up. I and our second roommate, the master tenant, were both at work and didn't have enough notice to be present for the inspection.

Anyway, I later learned (from our third roommate) that while the PCO was here, he took it upon himself to spray my bed and linens with some kind of alcohol solution. During this treatment, he also knocked a picture frame off of my wall, breaking it.

Yesterday, I faxed a letter to the landlord, expressing my dissatisfaction that the PCO was sent on such short notice, reminding him that NYC law requires 24 hours' notice before a LL enters a dwelling, and requesting reimbursement for the broken frame (~$50). I received no reply from the LL himself, but he later left a voicemail with my roommate (the master tenant), asking her to call him back, saying he's "had it" with us and wants to terminate her tenancy. (This seems like it would constitute retaliatory eviction to me, since—as far as I can tell—he only said this after I reminded him of our rights regarding owner entry and requested reimbursement for the damaged property.)

I've advised my roommate/the master tenant to respond with a voicemail, directing him to contact me directly regarding the broken picture frame and to put any concerns regarding her tenancy and lease in writing.

At this point, I'm not sure if the LL will show up for the walkthrough. If he doesn't, we've prepared a written request for repairs (including photographs) which we intend to send, along with a request that any work be done before the PCO comes to perform a follow up treatment for the bed bugs. Our reasoning, again, is that since one of us is vacating and the remaining tenants' stuff will all be bagged, furniture will be removed, etc., it will be easier for any repairmen, painters, contractors, etc. to do their work.

If anyone has advice on good practices going forward with this situation, I would appreciate it. As far as I can tell, we're not in violation of the lease with the LL, so he may just be blowing smoke, but I thought some of the more knowledgable folk on this board might be able to weigh in suggestions on what to watch out for and steps we should take to protect ourselves/our rights now that things seem to be getting quite antagonistic.

I have three specific questions, but any general thoughts/advice would be much appreciated, too:

1) Given that the master tenant and LL have a lease agreement, how would the landlord terminate her tenancy? Should we expect a notice to quit, and will it need to specify how we are in violation of the lease?

2) If the LL does not show up for the walkthrough inspection on Thursday or does not respond to our request for repairs, what recourse do we have as tenants?

3) If the LL does not respond to my request for reimbursement over the damaged property, do I have any recourse—now that I've made a formal written request—besides suing?

Thanks.

Last edited by someoneinnyc; 10-01-2013 at 10:55 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-01-2013, 10:55 PM
 
12,340 posts, read 26,073,752 times
Reputation: 10351
Quote:
Originally Posted by someoneinnyc View Post
3) If the LL does not respond to my request for reimbursement over the damaged property, do I have any recourse—now that I've made a formal written request—besides suing?

Thanks.
What damaged property, the $50 picture frame? Really? Let it go.
If the frame is so important to you, have your renters insurance cover it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-01-2013, 10:58 PM
 
7 posts, read 19,262 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henna View Post
What damaged property, the $50 picture frame? Really? Let it go.
If the frame is so important to you, have your renters insurance cover it.
I'm obviously not going to sue over a $50 frame, but I do think he's responsible for the property damage. The more salient point, however, is that it obviously set the LL off, since he's now threatening to terminate our tenancy.

(And, not that it's exactly comparable, but if was short on my rent—even by just $50—I doubt the LL would just "let it go.")
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-01-2013, 10:59 PM
 
2,727 posts, read 2,826,709 times
Reputation: 4112
If you want to remain on good terms, I wouldn't push on this picture frame issue too much. Not sure why the landlord would be responsible regardless.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-01-2013, 11:03 PM
 
7 posts, read 19,262 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by joeymags View Post
If you want to remain on good terms, I wouldn't push on this picture frame issue too much. Not sure why the landlord would be responsible regardless.
My understanding was that a LL is responsible if he or his authorized agents damage any tenant property... Am I wrong about that?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-02-2013, 08:00 AM
 
1,431 posts, read 2,612,405 times
Reputation: 1199
Did the leaseholder and landlord already actually sign the renewal lease? If so, the landlord has to honor that like any contract. If not, assuming this place isn't rent-stabilized, he can kick you out if he wants.

It does sound like you are maybe not appreciating the seriousness of the bedbug problem? If you have bedbugs, the right course of action is to give the landlord and his agents free reign to do whatever they need to do at any time and comply with any instructions as fast as possible.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-02-2013, 08:12 AM
 
7 posts, read 19,262 times
Reputation: 10
Yes, the leaseholder and landlord already signed the renewed lease.

I certainly appreciate the seriousness of the bed bug problem… When I first discovered them about a month ago, I notified the leaseholder and asked her to immediately alert the landlord. She had apparently started finding them months ago, and wanted to drag her feet alerting the landlord. She suffers from a medical condition multiple chemical sensitivity, so she's very paranoid that our landlord—who, to be fair, is kind of aggressive—will steamroll over her and spray the place with pesticides, aggravating her condition.

She and our third roommate did fail, somewhat, to comply with the PCO's preparation instructions prior to their first visit, which is why the third roommate is now moving out (and the PCO believes is why the infestation hasn't fully abated). Oddly, I was completely compliant (I have the smallest room and the least stuff, so it was easy for me), but after the most recent follow-up inspection, the PCO now says the infestation is concentrated in my wooden bed frame (which I was never told to discard until now). The LL agreed with us that it just makes more sense now to wait a couple of weeks until our third roommate is gone, since there will be fewer belongings in the apartment and more space for the PCO to work in.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-02-2013, 08:39 AM
 
6,680 posts, read 8,210,085 times
Reputation: 4871
Last month you talked about moving out. So now you want to stay?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-02-2013, 07:20 PM
 
33,887 posts, read 47,082,096 times
Reputation: 14184
$50 picture frame vs. bedbugs


Which one to live without???



__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence

Forum TOS: //www.city-data.com/forumtos.html
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2013, 07:11 AM
 
Location: Manhattan
25,368 posts, read 36,960,557 times
Reputation: 12767
1) Given that the master tenant and LL have a lease agreement, how would the landlord terminate her tenancy? Should we expect a notice to quit, and will it need to specify how we are in violation of the lease?
Quote:
1.If the apartment is rent stabilized, you can sublet for up to two
years in any four-year period. If the apartment is not stabilized the
sublet cannot extend beyond your current lease.
Given sublet laws and their violation by the master tenant, questions 2 and 3 become irrelevant. You are in residence only because the landlord has decided not to evict the master tenant yet. He can do so at any time for no reason other than a violation of the sublet law.
You really are in no position to demand anything of him.

It seems fairly clear that the master tenant has moved out at least 3 years ago.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > New York > New York City

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:28 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top