Tuesday, November 15, 2005

SLUMLORDS be damned!

An excerpt from an article by Amanda Becker in block magazine:
Last October, Leticia James (D-Brooklyn) introduced the Healthy Homes Act to City Council. The act is a joint effort between several area organizations to hold "slumlords" accountable for their actions.

The act aims to ameliorate the problems with the existing inspection process by requiring automatic re-inspections of C violations within 30 days, increased fines for landlords that fail to make repairs and for false certifications and rent abatements for tenants in apartments with un-repaired class C violations. It proposes to pay for the increased involvement from HPD through the increased fines and penalties levied on landlords.


get REALLY fired up at this website:
http://nycworstlandlords.com

11 comments:

fairy butler said...

if you want to read some truly FUCKED up stories go to the press area of that worst landlord website. So fucked up. Good God.

fairy butler said...

these slum lords should be forced to live in their own 'apartments' - chained inside for a couple of years. can't the gangs do something to get back at these horrible assfaces?

Anonymous said...

you're right FB, this did get me fired up. I am doing research now on how to force the landlord to deal with the broken radiator and the mushrooms/mold/window frame.

fairy butler said...

housinghereandnow.org

fairy butler said...

krix, can you hire someone to fix your room/roof and pay for it and then provide a receipt in leui of rent? probably not huh? other idea is to contact free legal advice and let the landlord know you are putting your rent into an escrow account until problems are fixed. might be too soon to get this harsh.

my relic shack roof was fully replaced and ceiling repaired in full after letter from lawyer was presented to building owner.

fairy butler said...

is there another side of this slumlord story that i am not seeing? i just don't get how this situation is allowed to persist.

i never would have been so fired up about any of this stuff but now that i live in bushwick i am witnessing first-hand the deplorable condition of some of the buildings in my neighborhood - and i see the tenants daily with their families, etc. i am not inside of these buildings but i can only imagine.

Anonymous said...

yes, Minerva drafted a letter that we would be contacting a lawyer when heat was not turned on. The day she was going to send it was the day they turned on the heat.

However, I have found out a lot of interesting things on this site that lists tenants rights for NJ. http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/placeilive/rent/tenantsrights.cfm#ch6

Good stuffs.

It will cost a lot to repair and place the frames. They will need to probably build scaffolding which is why he has been lagging. Not really my problem however. I only wish that I had notified in writing when the initial problem presented itself.

fairy butler said...

excellent resource krix. all i can say is if you own a building with rental units you MUST be responsible for that building. too bad if the roof fails etc. that is what happens with owning property. it requires continual upkeep and it is the owner's responsibility. duh

fairy butler said...

take some digital pictures of the problem room, the mold, etc.

note: the mold is probably mildew which is easily cleaned with bleach and water solution and a sponge. if it is getting smelly or causing allergies. i spent this weekend cleaning some mildew off of a wall in our basement so i am on intimate terms. if you do clean up charge the landlord hourly rate and subtract from rent. in chicago arthur did this for us on numerous counts and it was always ok with him? our rent was only 800$ though so ? oh, those were the days. a 2000 sq foot loft for 800$ with a parking space.

krixfort said...

These slumlord types seem like bad peoples. That borg pony however, is quite an attractive steed.

toodster said...

blarg. Too bad karma is a belief and not hard truth. Alice's parents who don't speak english get taken advantage of by their landlord ( garbage tossed in the basement instead of garbage truck, dinning table-sized cave-in leak hole in the ceiling), but no one complains because some are illegal and don't want to get in trouble and others seem to think that this behavior ir normal. Well, Alice called bullshime and it and had inspectors come out and it got ugly. Lots of lead paint and other problems.

On a lighter note, anyone go see the dance dealy at McCarren pool?


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