Landlord's wife yelled at me Part II (Cortland, Cambridge: apartment, lease)

[rlrl]

In late June I posted a long diatribe about how my landlord's wife yelled at me and called me a "pig" because she claimed roaches were seen coming out of my apartment. She claimed i had to get a professional cleaner and use one monthly and if conditions didn't improve i would be evicted(yeah the apt was filthy but i quickly corrected it)

I had the super and his wife attack the problem areas in the kitchen, they cleaned and scrubbed the problem areas and i paid them very well for it. I bought plastic containers for storage and trashed any and all paper/cardboard stuff that may have attracted the roaches. The super did 3 days of roach bombs and now it appears the problem is over. I also cleaned the studio part (there was no infestation there anyway) and the apt looks like new, even better than when i moved in

I haven't seen the landlord's wife since she had her angry tirade and the husband still is cordial to me. he never mentions the incident(she's dour and domineering, he's easy going). the super and his wife certainly like me since I always tip them anyway and paid them well for the cleaning

What i am a bit concerned about is this. I just saw in the elevator a sign from a tenant on the 4th floor telling other tenants of the availablility of a cleaning woman that they use, and that the cleaning woman wants to know if other tenants are interested in her services, so the 4th floor tenant posted the sign

Do you think the landlord's wife is going to demand that i use a service every month? Do you think this was a hint to me? Actually this lady's rates are very good ($15 per hour, minimum 3 hours) but I'm just a bit paranoid about it

the building always had a roach problem. an exterminator comes every month and on the landlord's floor many tenants have traps outside their doors.

well, it's certainly a relief but i just wonder about this small thing

[ANAPA]

Do you have a lease?

[rlrl]

a rent stabilized lease. I also thought they would send me a "notice of cure" but they didn't. I fixed the problem in a week

[ANAPA]

If you've got a lease they have to take you to court and prove you are causing a health hazard (and yet they have roaches all over the building so it can't be you). They can't just evict you.

If I were you I'd start documenting your experiences.

[sues1]

I used to live in Riverdale, where in Riverdale do you live?

[Fred314X]

Everybody handles these sorts of things differently. If it was me, I'd tell the landlord's wife to her face that I'm not going to stand for her continued harrassment, and if it takes a court date to get things straightened out, then so be it. (I actually did this with a landlord once. He didn't believe me...which turned out to be his mistake! I got what I wanted out of him). And that's why you have to document your experiences.

[rlrl]

finished. The yelling only was before we fixed the problem. i just don't want her telling me i have to get a service every month

[rlrl]

and 252 street across the street from the parade ground at Van Cortlandt park

[Classicalguy]

We already told you that she has no right to demand that you hire a cleaning service unless it is required in your lease (which I'm sure it's not).

I think you are worrying unnecessarily. You've cleaned the place - which is what the landlord wanted. You've gotten rid of the bugs. You can prove this because you paid the super to do it. You've heard nothing more from the landlord. There is no reason to create a problem (by confronting the landlord at this point) or to anticipate one.

If the landlord makes a demand in the future, you can say that the problem was solved and you don't need a cleaning service.

On the other hand, it's kind of nice living in a clean apartment, no? Only you can decide whether having a regular cleaning person would be worth the money to you. If you're not a good housekeeper, maybe it's something you should do for your own sake? Either way, it's up to you, not your landlord.


Stop worrying. It's very hard to evict someone. They have to serve you with a notice. You have a right to cure during the notice period. Then they have to file a lawsuit. You have the right to answer the lawsuit and defend. It's very hard to get someone out on a BS claim if the tenant defends the case. I'm pretty sure this is not going to happen. If it happens, you can come back and ask us for advice on how to deal with it. The laws are stacked in favor of the tenant, and the courts bend over backwards for tenants unless they do something really bad (like dealing drugs out of their apartment). For now, it looks like the incident is over and you should stop worrying.

[sues1]

I lived on Cambridge Ave, pretty much on the top of Riverdale Ave.