Sit Right Down and Write Your Landlord a Letter

If you have a complaint about conditions in your apartment, the first thing to do is to tell the building's superintendent or telephone your landlord or your managing agent. If your landlord doesn't take care of the situation, you can always call 311, the New York City hotline number, and complain. They will send an inspector to your apartment, who may - or may not - write a violation. If a violation is written, it will be sent to your landlord. You may - or may not - be able to arrange to be at home when the inspector is scheduled to arrive.

The most effective thing to do is to open a file and engage in a telephone and letter-writing campaign. If you call the managing agent's office, "Kate" may promise to send a plumber next Tuesday. Tell Kate that you can't sit home all day, and you want to know when the plumber will arrive. Probably, the best Kate can do is to tell you that Josephine the plumber will arrive during a certain three or four hour window - for example, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Then immediately sit down and write a letter to the landlord and the managing agent's office confirming your telephone conversation with Kate. The letter should include a description of your complaint, what you said to Kate, what Kate promised to do about it, and a brief explanation about how the condition has interfered with your enjoyment of your apartment. Send two copies of the letter to the landlord - one by regular mail, with proof of mailing, and one by certified mail, return receipt requested. Of course, retain a copy of your letter.

The letter should be sent to the address the landlord or managing agent indicated on the Multiple Dwelling Registration Statement ("MDR") on file with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development ("DHPD") of the City of New York. To find the MDR, go to DHPD's web site: www.nyc.gov/html/hpd. If you do not live in a multiple dwelling, send the letter to the address where you send your rent.

Of course, be there when the plumber is scheduled to arrive. It would be best to have someone wait for the plumber with you - this person will later be able to testify in court that the plumber did not arrive. If the plumber doesn't arrive, continue the campaign: telephone call to landlord, followed by a letter confirming the telephone call, etc.

If your campaign is not effective, it's time to contact an attorney, who may ultimately advise you to withhold all or part of your rent. Never withhold rent without the advice of an attorney. Withholding rent may result in your eviction. Bring your file to the attorney's office: your attorney will be thrilled to see your file filled with letters and proofs of mailing.

If you telephone - but do not write - your landlord, and the matter ends up in court, your landlord may deny receiving the phone calls altogether, or may tell the judge a different version of the conversation. Put yourself in the judge's place: what is s/he supposed to believe? If you never bothered to write a letter, and the landlord denies receiving phone calls from you, the judge may end up concluding that you never did have a serious problem, and that the reason you withheld your rent was simply due to lack of funds.

So no matter how busy you are, or how hard it is to get to the post office, sit right down and write your landlord a letter.

P.S. Landlords note: For the same reasons, write letters to your problem tenants!

Behind Closed Doors

What is behind the closed door of your tenant's apartment? A 350 pound Bengal tiger? Marijuana plants? Alterations made without your consent? Pets (despite the no-pet clause in the lease)? Gallons of paint, turpentine and paint remover or other hazardous materials? Illegal subtenants? A water bed (prohibited by the lease)? Leaking pipes, or other items requiring repair? An apartment being used as an office?

What is not in your tenant's apartment? Perhaps your tenant, who is living somewhere else!

The downturn in the economy has recently led some tenants to make money by turning their apartments into illegal rooming houses. They subdivide their apartments with drywall partitions, or simply with curtains, and allow three or four other families to reside with them. Who is liable in the event of a fire? You, the landlord.

For all of these reasons, and many more, it is important that you or your managing agent gain access to your tenant's apartments at least once per year. Landlords are allowed, by New York City Law, to perform a routine check on the physical condition of their apartments. Why do we recommend visiting only once per year? Because landlords' right of access must be balanced against tenants' right of privacy in their homes.

Of course, landlords or their agents are required by law to make necessary repairs to tenants' apartments. While making the repair, the repair-person should keep their eyes and ears open, and immediately report any problems or suspicions to the landlord, who can then seek legal advice, if necessary.

If you would like access to your tenant's apartment, the first step is simply to telephone your tenant and make a mutually agreeable arrangement. If this is not possible, then you should follow the New York City Administrative Code, and give your tenant a seven-day notice requesting access. We recommend a written notice, sent by certified mail and regular mail. You must allow five days for mailing, so the access date should be set at least twelve days after the date of mailing. If the tenant persistently refuses to give access, you should consult your lawyer about bringing a holdover (eviction) proceeding to gain access.

Warning: This blog is too short to cover the subject of access thoroughly. A good concise discussion of the subject, written in plain English, can be found in Chapter 10 of "The New York Landlord's Law Book" by Attorney Mary Ann Hallenborg, published by NOLO press.

Sources:
The New York Times:
"Police Subdue a Tiger in Harlem Apartment" 10/5/03
"Partitioned Apartments Are Risky, but Common in New York" 2/22/09
"Hundreds of Marijuana Plants Seized at Chinatown Apartment" 9/20/03

Litter Box Saves Shy Kitty From Eviction

Many leases prohibit tenants from keeping pets in their apartments. However, according to NYC law, if a tenant keeps a pet in violation of the lease, and the landlord does not start an eviction proceeding three months after the landlord "knew or should have known" about the pet, then the landlord waives the right to object to the pet. In order to obtain the benefit of the "pet law," the tenant must keep the pet "openly and notoriously" and not hide the pet from the landlord or the landlord's agents.

What about shy cats who run away and hide whenever anyone new enters the apartment? Can a tenant keep a shy cat "openly and notoriously?" According to an appellate court in Manhattan, the answer was yes, in a case where the tenant kept the kitty litter box in the bathroom. The litter box was seen - or should have been seen - by an independent contractor doing repair work in the apartment. The court took the position that the independent contractor was the landlord's agent and therefore told - or should have told - the landlord about the litter box. Apparently, the landlord lost the eviction case, because it did not bring the case within three months of the date when the contractor did the repair work.

Luckily for kitty, she wasn't toilet trained.

184 West 10th Street Corp. v Siiri Marvits, Appellate Division, First Department (February 2009).