Tenants Win Fight Against Deadbeat Landlord
A family in Bushwick, Brooklyn had been enduring three freezing cold winters, with no heat and no hot water. The landlord refused to help them. They called 311, they went back and forth to court, the landlord even refused to comply with court orders to correct the problem.
Meanwhile, three generations live in this third floor apt. The father is elderly, the mother, daughter and grandson are all asthmatic. Boiling water for showers and cooking was a real hardship.
We heard about the good work that sister Kathy from the Bushwick housing project was doing and wanted to showcase the amazing work she is doing. She used her contacts with the housing and preservation department to get the city to step in and fix the problem.
The city found the old boiler unfixable, they ripped it out. When they discovered an asbestos problem, they abated it. They bought a brand new boiler and had it installed. They arranged for a delivery of fuel oil.
We asked sister Kathy to help us get the word out on how tenants can be their own advocates if they have no heat or hot water.
First call 311 to register your complaint, make sure you have all your information and records organized. HPD will get involved. Be aware that you may have to go to court, and if the landlord still doesn't comply, the city will step in. They will slap a lien on the landlord's building to get reimbursed for anything they spend to get the problem fixed.
Comments: 6
Thank you so much help me howard and team youve helped my family so much and me and my family are so greatful.
I think when a person go to court a number of
time and the landlord does nothing they should lose they building,these landlord are getting away with what they want.and some judges in tenant
court are letting it happen ,specially with
New York CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY.there was a person living in NYC HOUSING and she had MOLD in her apt.She paid her RENT months at a time,alway
on time ,her little son has ASTMAS.Housing kept
giving her dates they were going to paint the apt
then did,nt show up ,making her lose days off her job,(but NYC HOUSING was painting empty APT)She
stop paying her rent and went to court, the judge
told her to paid her rent or move out.her son have been staying with family ,that cost money
to get him to there house.
happy that the problem is taking care of titi... love u and miss u....HEAT AND HOT WATER!!!! oo00 YEA!!!!
NYCHA sucks. Management sucks. They are stupid, just plain brain-dead and/or corrupt.
Don't give heat and then lie to your face that you have heat.
NYCHA is a piece of shit.
They don't get rid of rats either. The rats come in through the pipes.
How come if you live in NYCHA 5 years, not 3, like the above writen about tenants isn't enough for the courts to do something. Today my NYCHA manager threatened me and told me to move the hell out. Why? Because I told him he did not send us the new rent letter and he got in my face and made threatening gestures and told me to move the hell out.
But the drug dealers on the 7th floor, the neighbor who threatened to kill me because I told her to turn her music down (after FOUR years), the thugs who break the front door because they forgot their keys, the urinators in elevators, etc, etc, - THEY don't have to move the "hell" out?
We went to court and had one month's rent abated and now they are ignoring the court and threatening us with eviction again. In addition, the manager got in my face and almost hit me.
NYCHA is garbage - the employees are low lifes and uneducated swine.
I truly hope there is a career path ahead for people who do what we do. But, honestly, I am not sure.