Landlord wants to leave door open instead of fixing intercom/buzzer. (apartments, breaking a lease)
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I live in NYC in a third floor walk up with 6 units- half are residential. There are two doors into the building. First, a glass door (which is closed but always UNLOCKED) and then a heavy metal door (with self locking mechanism). The 2nd floor unit's intercom does not work and they cannot buzz employees in (it's an office-no clients, only employees) so they have (with the landlord's permission) propped open the self locking metal door so now the only security between an intruder and the units is the front door to each apartment. Any random person can walk in the building all the way up to my third floor unit. Are there any tenant rights that guarantee I have a secure building door at all times? I am a female who lives by myself and I feel very uneasy about the whole situation.
Multiple dwellings which were built or converted to such use
after January 1, 1968 must have automatic self-closing and
self-locking doors at all entrances. These doors must be kept
locked at all times, except when an attendant is on duty. If this
type of building contains eight or more apartments it must also
have a two-way voice intercom system from each apartment
to the front door and tenants must be able to “buzz” open the
entrance door for visitors.
Multiple dwellings built or converted to such use prior to
January 1, 1968 also must have self-locking doors and a two-
way intercom system if requested by a majority of the tenants.
Landlords may recover from tenants the cost of providing this
equipment. Multiple Dwelling Law § 50-a.
Entrances, stairways and yards of multiple dwellings must
be sufficiently lit at night, from sunset to sunrise. The owner
is responsible for installation and maintenance of lighting in
these areas. NYC Admin. Code § 27-2040; Multiple Dwelling
Law § 35; Multiple Residence Law § 109.
Failure to provide a safe habitation is a violation of the "Warrant of Habitability", which is grounds for breaking a lease if you are unable to get the landlord to correct the situation. See page 18
Quote:
If a landlord breaches the warranty of habitability, the tenant
may sue for a rent reduction. Alternatively, rent regulated ten-
ants can also file a rent reduction complaint with DHCR. The
tenant may also withhold rent, but in response, the landlord
may sue the tenant for non-payment of rent. In such case,
the tenant may countersue for breach of the warranty.
etc, etc...
See pages 11-19 regarding how to properly go about getting these deficiencies corrected.
I recommend that you file a complaint with the NYC building code inspector, they may be able to take an enforcement action against the landlord. As well as any tenant who you have seen prop the door open.
Another option might be to sue the landlord to demand performance. It would probably be good to talk to a attorney about this. You have a right to this under the law, a right to a safe habitation. Your alternative is to break your lease because your landlord has not lived up to this obligation, which would subject you to damages for moving costs and inconvenience, which you could also sue for if you are forced to go this route.
I just wanted to give an update on my situation. I filed a complaint with 311 back in January and only recently have I received an appointment for an inspector to come inspect the broken intercom system. The intercom system is still broken of course and today I received a letter in the mail from my landlord informing me that there will be a 20% rent increase effect June 1st. Is my landlord retaliating because of my complaint? Is there anything I can do?
You landlord is raising the rent to cover cost of his trip to Fiji and a down payment on his new cadillac. he's also wants to eat out 2 more times each month and seen the new LED 3D tV in the store window. And some of it is to have some money to replace that broken intercom. So, all these are 100% legitimate reasons to raise yuor rent and has absolutely nothing to do with retalliation.
Seriously, how would we know why the rent was raised? Even if the LL got wind of the intercom issue and is raising it to cover the cost, barring any lawa of rent increases, so long as they charged everyone, you would have no claim of retaliation. The first thing a judge ask when trying to determine retaliation is if its being applied to everyone or just you.
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