"They sent me notices telling me if I did not take it out I would have a ten day period to get out of my apartment," Frettim said.

"As a matter of fact, on these notices it says ‘for the benefits of the residences,'" Frettim added. "I am wondering how that ‘benefits the residents' when they can't have air conditioners. How does that benefit us? Our kids end up in the hospitals or they end up sick."

A check of the rental agreements and property rules supplied by tenants by contained no mention of a ban on A/C window units.

Cruel!

Tenants say A/C banned by landlord despite record heat wave [KATU]
(Photo: Infrogmation)

First, you'll need the street address of the building in question. (You don't need the zip code.) Go to the Department of Housing Preservation & Development home page. In the right column, enter the address of the building. That should lead you to a page with a lavender column on the left.

Click All Open Violations. There you'll see names of the building owner and management. Beneath that info, in bold, is the number of all open violations, along with a breakdown of class "A" (non-hazardous), "B" (hazardous), and "C" (immediately hazardous) violations. Scroll down and you'll see descriptions of the complaints. For example: "nuisance consisting of vermin mice in the entire apartment located at apt e9" or "remove the encumbrance obstructing egress from fire escapes a/c protruding from window at 3rd story balcony" (i.e. an air conditioner is blocking the fire escape).

Most buildings have open complaints, especially if they're large, so the mere presence of mice shouldn't be a deal breaker. As a rule of thumb, the way to rank a given building is to take the number of open violations and divide it by the number of apartments ("A Units"), which you'll find listed in a horizontal graph at the top of the page).

More than 5 violations per unit: slumlord; avoid
Fewer than 3 violations per unit: average/good
1 violation or less per unit: excellent

As for residents of other cities, check with your equivalent of the NYC housing department to see if their records are online. If they are, please let us know and we'll post about other city's records in the future.

Link: NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development
(Photo: Stuck in Customs)

One victim tried to file a police report and was told to go to landlord-tenant court, which won't really work, since the guy isn't a real landlord.

My sympathy is mitigated by the fact that he's going around saying that they're able to steal gas and electricity from the city. Sometimes, fraudsters prey on people's greed and need, acting like they're going to help you perpetuate the scam you wish you knew how to pull off, making some victims complicit in their own deception.

Fake Landlord Scam [Fox NY]
Video: Homeboy Hookup Rips Off Craigslist Renters [Gothamist]

Ari writes,

This past week I moved into a new apartment, which advertised internet being bundled in, and was listed on the rental agreement that I signed. Since I have been here, the internet has been poor in terms of speed and reliability. I emailed my landlord wanting to know what the speed of the Internet connection is at my new apartment. He said that he would forward the question to his support guy. The support guy responded in what is the most insulting response I have ever received. The person who stole the wireless router is just an, "a-hole" for being a thief, but I am a "dipshit."

From: Mark at Level2Support
Date: May 7, 2009 11:31:48 PM CDT
To: Thad, Ari
Subject: RE: Fwd: Rent Check

An OC-3 at Level 3 costs around $37,000 a month with a $8,000 set up fee. You can go to http://www.ispworld.com/isp/bb/n_america.htm to check out backbone pricing.

It's a fucking single DSL line dipshit. And if some a-hole didn't rip off my WiFi N-band router I left in the laundry room last month, you would have better speeds between the AP and your system. Find out who stole it, and I'll give you a reward of not calling Chuck Norris to the complex to find the prick who stole it.

—-—-— Original Message —-—-—
> Subject: Fwd: Rent Check
> From: Thad
> Date: Thu, May 07, 2009 8:17 pm
> To: Mark at Level2Support
>
> In a message dated 5/7/2009 12:18:41 P.M. Central Daylight Time, [Ari] writes:
>
> Who can I talk to about the internet speeds?
>
> Het Slum, can you see what his problem is? i'm sure he just wants to bitch that its too slow. he's kind of nerdy, probably expecting instant full length movie downloads and live gaming. i have no clue what to tell him the speed is. it is what it is, we aint making it any faster.
>
> Thad

Hmm. Uh, okay. Well, as Ari points out, Thad and Mark didn't actually answer his question, at least not directly. Mark did however threaten to sic Chuck Norris on the apartment building, if that's any help.

We're not even sure if Mark was calling Ari a dipshit or Thad, since he responded to both of them, so we emailed Mark directly and asked him to clarify. He never got back to us.

Ari adds,

What I would like to do is get out of paying $20/mo. for the internet here. I looked at the Qwest terms of service, and it does state that reselling their service is against their terms of service.

We described the situation to Qwest and asked them what they thought, and they responded:

Based on the information you have provided it seems like the landlord is reselling our DSL service which they are not allowed to do. We can't be 100% sure without more details, but based on the information we have from you, that seems to be the case.

You might want to contact Qwest directly, Ari, and explain the situation to them. If Level2Support is the one reselling the Qwest service, it may be legit, in which case you'll need to talk to your landlord about either providing adequate speed or letting you out of the $20/month payment so you can buy your own. We don't know the details of your lease or the specifics of Minnesota renters' law, but you can read up on it yourself (and contact someone to help) at your state's Attorney General site.

(Photo: N_Creatures)

"I thought they must not understand that Colin was killed. But no, they understood completely," Eckert said.

She said the apartment's property manager told her that they knew Byars had been killed. But the woman told Eckert the management company had been advised by their legal representative that they should go after the rent and fees.

"I said you might be able to do this, but should you do this?" Eckert said. The early termination fee makes her especially angry. "How was my son supposed to know he was going to be killed?" she asked.

Eckert says she isn't upset. "I just wanted the community to know how ruthless and heartless these people were."

Landlord demands dead victim's late rent, fees [Kenoshaw News]
(Photo: Kevin Poirier)

We all know that your credit score will affect your loans. A higher score means you will get a lower rate on mortgages, car loans, and credit cards. What if you don't plan on getting a mortgage or a car loan? Does it matter what your score is? Yes, it does. Here are four unexpected situations where bad credit or an inaccurate report can really hurt you.

Prospective Employers: Employers are allowed to use your credit report in hiring, firing , and promotion decisions. Federal law prohibits employers from making adverse decisions if you file bankruptcy (Title 11, Bankruptcy, of the U.S. Code), but every other negative item can be used against you. If you defaulted on a loan or missed a payment, then an employer can use that information against you. The government has been known to run routine background checks which include criminal history and credit history. If you have a low credit score, you could be considered a security risk because you could be more susceptible to bribery or blackmail. Credit history information is most often used for sensitive positions and those that deal directly with money. Your credit history could also be used to confirm other facts you presented about yourself. If you said you spent four years working for a firm in California but your credit history doesn't show residency in California, it could be a problem for you.

Landlords: This one is a little less unexpected because landlords routinely run credit checks to determine whether you'll be able to pay the rent each month. Credit reports will list all your late payments and evictions, which are the two categories landlords are most concerned about. It will also give a good indication of the renter's debt burden and debt profile, which can help a landlord decide which renter is most likely to cause the fewest number of headaches.

Insurance Companies: Insurance companies will use your credit score in determining your premiums because their actuaries have determined a lower credit score leads to higher claims. There are theories as to why this is true but the statistical data supports this policy. The lower your score, the higher your premiums will be. This applies to all insurance policies from auto to home to renters. It will also apply to medical if you seek out independent health insurance but not if you get it through your employer (it's because as an employee you are treated as part of a "class," rather than an individual).

Cell Phones: If you have bad credit and want to get a cell phone, you may find that the cell phone company will want you to put down a deposit before they will offer you service. You will also lose access to the multitude of special offers and free equipment many companies offer for new contracts. The reason companies do this is because your score has indicated you have difficulty meeting your obligations. Cell phones are essentially "loaning" you the cost of a month's service and if you have low or bad credit, they don't trust that you'll pay on time, so they require a deposit. This explanation is true for other monthly service type products like cable television and internet service.

As you can see, your credit history and your credit score can have an impact on your life even if you don't plan on getting a loan. This is why it's critically important to regularly check your credit history for inaccuracies and correct them when you see them. The only place you can get a free copy of your credit report is at the government sponsored AnnualCreditReport.com.

Have you ever had a credit report error come back to haunt in a way you never expected?

Jim writes about personal finance at his personal finance blog, Bargaineering.

(Photo: R_Adam_G)

Covina landlords unaware tenants were victims of massacre [Daily News] (Thanks to Heidi!) (Photo: mainfr4me)
PREVIOUSLY: Landlord Orders Ex-Husband To Pay Murdered Wife's Rent

CBS2 reports:

Broadcrest Foothill Apartment Homes claims Alicia Ortiz broke her lease on an Upland apartment when she and her 17-year-old son were killed by her sister's disgruntled ex-husband. The landlord informed her former husband, Carlos Ortiz, that she gave "insufficient notice to vacate." The company says it is owed $2,821 in rent and penalties.

The itemized invoice claimed Ortiz's estate owes $1,655, plus payment for 12 days rent and other fees for the weeks after she died.

Alicia Ortiz, her son Michael and seven other relatives were killed by Bruce Pardo when he barged into his ex-in-laws' Covina home during a holiday party Dec. 24 dressed as Santa Claus and opened fire. After a shooting rampage that claimed his ex-wife's life, he burned the house and killed himself.

Since Carlos Ortiz was not on the lease, he has no legal obligation to pay the rent being demanded by these chum-slurping maggots.

Ex-husband told to pay slain woman's rent [CBS2] (Thanks to Ken!) (Photo: !!!! scogle)

When Consumerist reader Eric Zissen's brother died in his Florida apartment, he made a big mistake. He failed to give the landlord 60 days advance notice he was going to die.

Or so it would seem judging from the fact that the Sun Harbour apartment complex jacked his security deposit and charged his estate rent for the remaining three months of the lease contract.

Sun Harbour says they are "just following the letter of the lease."

Since the video was shot, the family took the case to court and won. But then the landlord appealed and now they're waiting for a decision from the judge in the appellate court. "A $2000 bill is now costing in court costs and lawyers fees 17k," says Eric. Luckily, the family was awarded attorney fees in the first case and if they win the appeal, they will go for attorney fees as well. The entire estate is on hold until the case is resolved.

RELATED: Fort Lauderdale Landlord Emulates Scrooge In Demanding Rent From Dead Man [All Headline News]

A NYmag article with advice about getting payback in various life situations offers the following:

Send biweekly letters to your landlord and save any written or voice-mail responses. After a few months, show up at her office and ask for proof of any damage and repair costs.

If they don't provide proof, they say the next step is to file a suit in small claims court.

I had this happen to me once. The top of a front-loading dryer got a dent smaller than a quarter in it and when we moved out the landlord deducted the cost of a new dryer from our deposit. Back then I had no clue about my rights as a consumer back then and my only recourse was to fantasize about throwing Moltov cocktails through the landlord's front window. They had this really huge big glass window too...oohhh it would be so...ok, I'll admit, I still catch myself daydreaming about it.

Getting Payback [New York Mag] (Thanks to Brian!)

Depending on the vigilance of the landlord, a seasoned serial evictee like Getzow can get away with a minimum of 45 days and sometimes up to a year of free rent. The actual number of serial evictees operating in San Francisco is difficult to track, but some attorneys who specialize in representing landlords estimate there are between 20 and 100.

Landlord attorney Clifford Fried of Wiegel and Fried says these types of tenants know they're unlikely to be punished for withholding rent. "You can go into a store and steal a loaf of bread and do a year in jail," he says, "but you can steal months of rent from a landlord and never do any time in jail. It's a great crime to commit because there are no penalties."

The evictees are well versed in the ins and outs of the San Francisco eviction process. They take advantage of the all the programs and aid that the city provides to its residents who are facing eviction. Of course, they're only a small percentage of the renters that seek help:

Carolyn Gold directs the San Francisco Volunteer Legal Services Program, which manages a group of 10 volunteer attorneys who help tenants in the 30 or so eviction cases that come through Superior Court each week. She says she sees very few serial evictees like Getzow. "In fact, what we see more of is serial evictors, landlords who continually come up with ruses for one eviction after another," she says. "There are lots of tenants who have gotten themselves into a tight spot for one reason or another — they're elderly, they have medical conditions, lost jobs — things that are beyond their control. I see it every day, and it's very, very sad."

The serial evictee profiled in the story, however, is an especially nasty one. His last run in with a landlord ended in charges for assault:

According to police, Getzow came into the Holy Grail on Feb. 10 at about 1:30 a.m. complaining about noise and attempting to goad O'Reilly into a fight. O'Reilly refused and tried to get Getzow to leave. Bartender Patricia Herlihy was so alarmed at Getzow's behavior that she began taking photographs of him with a digital camera. Getzow approached her and shoved or pushed the camera into her face, SFPD Sergeant Neville Gittens says.

Herlihy was taken to the hospital, Gittens says, though the police report contains no information about the extent of her injuries. Getzow retreated to a nearby crepe restaurant, where he was still in such an agitated state when the police arrived that it took several officers to restrain him, the report says.

How Renters Work the System to Live for Free in One of America's Most Expensive Cities [SFWeekly]

• Cutting a giant hole in one renter's floor
• Breaking into a tenant's apartment and pouring ammonia on their clothes, bedding, and electronics
• Cutting the support beams to a renter's apartment
• Illegally entering a renter's apartment and dismantling their furniture
• Turning off the water,power, and electricity to tenant's apartments

S.F. landlords charged with tenant terror [SF Gate] (Thanks to Paul!)

I live in a 750 square foot apartment in Brooklyn, NY. Per the lease agreement, my roommate and I signed to pay the heat separate from the rent. The first gas bill we received was $750, and the following gas bill was roughly the same amount. We knew that the price of gas was expensive, but for two people who make great pains to use the heat only when absolutely necessary, and occasionally use the stove to boil a pot of water, this seemed ridiculous. For all of 2007, we owe roughly $2000 in gas costs.

The gas company inspected our boiler; we were told that it was inefficient and outdated, and that our boiler, though supposedly hooked up to meters separate from the rest of the building, used to heat the entire building. We brought the matter to our landlord, even showing him the graph provided by the gas company that demonstrates that we are paying triple that of the average customer in our area. When we asked him to compensate us for half of what we owe, he laughed in our face and refused. Does Consumerist or any of its readers know - do we have any form of recourse? Are there rules and regulations concerning the standards by which a boiler must run at? Are there rules and regulations concerning the repairs a landlord must make on a utility that is paid for by the tenant? Also, my advice to anyone considering entering a rental agreement where the cost of heat is not included in the rent - don't do it. Thank You for Reading, Marcie

Wisconsin Management Company, Inc. extends its deepest condolences to both the Zimmerman and Gonnering families. We regret how our statement on Friday was characterized. Wisconsin Management Company, Inc. takes great pride in our service and commitment to our residents. We felt it inappropriate, one week after the incident, to discuss the particulars of the lease situation until we had spoken to the families. We have since had the opportunity to speak with Jordan's parents. After discussing what the family wanted, we have decided to release all parties from any lease obligations. Once the property is released by the police, we will do any cleaning or repairs that are necessary. We have also offered housing to Mr. Gonnering, which he will consider. Now that this situation is resolved, we hope people can focus on the actual tragedy and work towards healing and justice.
 
Russ Endres
President
Wisconsin Management Company, inc.

The president of Wisconsin Management Co., Russ Endres, says the company hasn't even officially spoken to Gonnering yet. He says they will work with him if he calls and they have a good track record of helping students who want to break leases. 27 News asked Endres if he personally believes Gonnering should be allowed to cut ties to the apartment, and Endres said, "It's too early to say." He would not commit to allow Gonnering to break the lease.

Does anyone know what Steve's little sister should do?

My little sister is at college and recently came across a strange situation. Her roommate (and once friend) has physically attacked her, unprovoked, twice. The second time, the police were called and said roommate was arrested. According to the judge, conditions of her bail require her to not verbally or physically threaten my sister. However, they're still roommates and she has access to the apartment.

My sister, wanting none of this mess (her life in college is complicated enough, aren't they all at that age?) requested to break her lease from the landlord. He could have cared less about the situation and wants his lease break fee. Understandable, but not very compassionate and lame. The roommate's parents worked out an agreement with my sister to pay her lease break fee if she agreed to drop the charges. She is more than happy to do this, but unfortunately, the charges are the state vs. her roommate, so she doesn't have a say. I have suggested explaining the compromise to the prosecutors, but want to know what choices she might have if they do not agree to drop it.

The parents will not pay her break fee unless the charges are dropped. Is there some sort of law/civil case that she can force the roommate to pay these fees regardless of the outcome of the case because her roommate has created this hostile environment? I've been googling roommate law and the like and have come up empty. It seems a murky area and I was hoping the Consumerist could shed some light on the situation. Otherwise I'm going to have to go to jail for kicking the girl's butt myself (definitely kidding, although it gives me great hope karma is real).

Thanks,

-ucdcsteve

Any other ideas?

(Photo:Lazy_Lightning)

For instance, with the noisy uncarpeted upstairs neighbors, he advises not just creating a log of all the disturbances, but hiring a professional to come in and measure the noise levels: "An expert's analysis will buttress your position and will likely be more persuasive than your mere recitation of the facts and circumstances."

"Answers About Tenant-Landlord Issues"
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 [New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)

The boiler's been replaced and I've had consistent heat and hot water since xmas. Now i just have this unholy clanking coming from the steam pipe every morning b/t 3 and 5 am which jolts me from my bed in fear that its about to explode and take me with it. The super says hopefully it will get resolved this week.

And despite the fact that I'm fairly certain that, for my troublemaking, Dermot will either price me out of my apartment or fail to renew my lease come august, I can take some solace in the fact that the elderly people in my building now treat me like a local hero for getting Dermot to cave in a way they had never been able to.

Dec 13th
On Monday, I returned home from work to discover an unexpected message from the city building inspector tucked under my door, stating that he had come to check on my heat and hot water, but that, since I wasn't home, he'd check things out in a neighboring apartment.

I had no idea what would come of this notice, but then two days later (this evening to be precise), another notice appeared under my door announcing that Dermot will be replacing our now infamously busted boiler next Monday...

Mind you, our building manager told us at our tenant meeting last month that it would take weeks of work to replace the boiler, and that the entire time we'd have to have a noisy generator blaring outside, keeping us up nights. Interesting how those horrid weeks she described have now been reduced to a few short hours.

Like I said, the visit from the inspector was unexpected. I never did get around to filing any complaints with 311 (my lack of faith in government leads me to suspect they'd collect dust in a database somewhere).

Thus, I believe Consumerist is entirely responsible for these matters coming towards their resolution — responsible, in fact, for both the city and Dermot taking notice in the first place — and I am extremely grateful for your support on this issue.

Consumerist is truly the harbinger of corporate responsibility.

Thank you and happy holidays.

Dec 17

FYI, workmen are still here and the heat's off ... it's 61 degrees in my apartment right now

Dec 20th
Boiler was supposed to be replaced Monday; it's Thursday night @ 10pm, they're still here making a racket and I've got ice cold water coming from the tap.

Dec 21
As of this morning, still no heat, no hot water. It's 61 degrees in my apartment.

PREVIOUSLY:
Coldest Day Of Year. No Heat On. Thanks, Slumlord Dermot Company.
Stuck With Dermot Management, A Modern-Day Slumlord
More like Dermot Mismanagement [Orthodox Anarchist]

After cleaning black mold off the ceiling daily with bleach for about two months and pleading with the new landlord, he sent the pseudo-super, who barely speaks English, to fix the leak in my bathroom.

After ripping down the almost collapsed ceiling and the neighbor's kitchen floor, the guy discovered at least three different leaks, all converging on my ceiling.

This is a clip of him working on the problem (day 2) from the neighbor's apartment upstairs. He states the case rather simply, "Mucho problemo!"Bucky says the super replaced his ceiling with a drop ceiling for easy access, and now there's some new drips. Perhaps a sequel could be in the (water)works?

Have you ever had trouble getting your landlord to do repairs? Do you have any tactics that have proved successful in encouraging the landlord to get the job done?

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(Photo: mq666)

At the end of October, Daniel wrote us about the troubles he, and all the other tenants, were having with their building's shady management company, Dermot Company. After his story posted here, Dermot called him, "jumping through hoops to kiss my ass," as Daniel put it. He asked us to refrain from posting the news to make sure that they weren't just making kissy kissy nice nice to put out the bad PR. We agreed, and Daniel's instincts proved correct.

His update, inside...

Oct 30

One of the guys in their maintenance department just called up to schedule an exterminator appointment, said he'd check out the hot water issue, and was pleased to learn that after two weeks, my super finally came over last night and installed a smoke detector. He also gave me his personal telephone extension so that I wouldn't have to deal with their maintenance line. He said he'd call me back later today to let me know when the exterminator is available.

-Daniel

-Ben

Dec 3

Welp, shortly after the post on Consumerist was mentioned on Gawker, I got a call from someone in Dermot's maintenance dept. who promised me he'd get all of these issues resolved as quickly as possible. (Gee, it only took embarrassing the company on the biggest blog in NYC to get their attention. How responsive!) He also gave me a direct number to reach him at so that I wouldn't get caught in voicemail hell next time I have an issue needing attention. Thus far they have sent an exterminator, so my roach situation has improved. And they also had the super install a smoke detector.

However, the hot water is still on-and-off, and, as I discovered at a tenant meeting two weeks ago, the boiler is broken and needs to be repaired or replaced. Dermot is leaning towards replacement, meaning that I, and the other tenants, will be subject to paying for an MCI. i.e., I just moved into the building a month and a half ago, and now I need to shell out X amount of dollars to pay for the broken boiler. In the meantime, if there's no hot water, I have to call the super to have him switch the boiler back on, because it keeps blowing out every 30 minutes. You can imagine how great I feel about having to call the guy first thing in the morning to tell him to roll out of bed and hit a switch so that I can take a shower.

Also, yesterday was the coldest day of the year so far, and there was no heat til nightfall. It was snowing, but my radiator didn't come on til 6pm. Not heat in the morning. On a Sunday. I was freezing all day.

In addition, I also learned a few other things at the tenant meeting: No one in my building has ever reached anyone on the maintenance number, and they say that they've reporting the same issues to Dermot repeatedly since they took over the building, and that they have yet to be resolved.

Dermot sent a building manager to the meeting who sought to make every excuse for the lack of traction on any and all maintenance issues, saying that she has no idea why no one's answering the maintenance line. After I tore her a new asshole, refusing to roll over for her corporate doublespeak, half the tenants came up to me and thanked me for standing up for everyone.

We were then told that we should take all our problems to the super, and not contact Dermot directly, even though during tenant orientation they tell us to leave the super alone and to take everything directly to the maintenance dept. We were also told that contacting the building manager directly was a very effective form of action, yet she refused to post her telephone number.

Another exciting tidbit: The previous super and her sons, who were fired when Dermot took over the building, have been sneaking back into the building and sabotaging utilities. The building manager told us to be on the lookout and not to let them into the building. I asked how I'm supposed to know what they look like considering that I just moved in. She said she wasn't legally allowed to distribute their photos. Get that? Disgruntled ex-employees are attacking the electricity and gas in my building, but I'm not allowed to be shown who they are! Boy, that makes me feel safe.

There are also some questionable things happening with my lease — namely, it appears that Dermot misled me about the legal status of my apartment, telling me that it was rent stabilized when it actually is not — at least, according to my City Council rep. I'm currently investigating the matter with my attorney.

The Dermot disaster continues...

-Daniel

(Photo: Getty)

2 weeks ago both my wife and I got a summons, that let us know that our landlord was being sued by the bank he financed the house through, for not paying his mortgage since July of this year...

Now I'm a younger guy and haven't had much experience with matters such as this, I didn't know what to do, not to mention well stressed over the matter.

I was frantically asking advice from anyone and everyone I knew. Some said keep paying your rent and just make sure there is a paper trail, others stated don't pay it and save the rent money for the eventual move(if the house gets foreclosed they usually kick you out, or so I'm told, and its usually really really short notice, 24hours).

Eventually I spoke to a lawyer, mind you his specialty wasn't in this area of law, but his suggestion was not to pay the rent and save it for the move.

So we didn't pay rent and so far the landlord has not contacted us. My question is was this the right move to make and what are my obligations/risks in a situation such as this (specifically being a renter who's home is potentially getting foreclosed)?

-Eric

If you paid a security deposit, you're still entitled to get that back from the landlord.

Keep saving for the move, which will probably take first and last month's rent and a security deposit. Consider pre-packing up your non-essential items. Assuming your landlord doesn't discover a secret box full of gold coins and pays off his mortgage, you're going to have 24-72 hours from the inevitable eviction notice to get out of Dodge.

You really need to get familiar with Florida state laws for this, though. Consider contacting your local bar association and asking for a referral to a lawyer specializing in tenant rights.

RELATED: href="http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/real-estate/20071109_foreclosure_eviction_renters_a1.asp#one">Foreclosure can leave renters homeless [Bankrate]
As Owners Feel Mortgage Pain, So Do Renters [NYT]

A major NYC real estate corp [Dermot Management] is seriously fucking its tenants, myself included, and I just signed my lease a week ago and am now stuck with these bastards.

I just moved into an apartment at 121 Seaman Ave., in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan.

The property is managed by the Dermot Company, which has been snatching up properties all around New York City and providing broker free rentals through sites like Rent-Direct.com, which is where I found my apartment.

The apartment seemed like a steal: A lot of space, a pretty nice building, a decent neighborhood (if far as hell from all civilization) and a reasonable rent. However, upon moving in to my new apartment, I made a few alarming discoveries: My kitchen is infested with cockroaches, I have only intermittent hot water, and there are no smoke detectors in my apartment.

Though, at my lease signing, Dermot assured me that they would be prompt in responding to any maintenance issues, I have found that they keep their maintenance line locked in "Do Not Disturb" mode 24/7 and do not return calls under any circumstances. It has been over a week since I have called to complain about these issues — all three of which are clear violations of NYC housing code — and I have yet to receive a call back.

Last night, I asked a neighbor about her experience with Dermot. She told me that the tenants in my building — those who have had the will to stay and fight — have been organizing against Dermot and that they've already called in the City Council for help. She says that she has personally filed a half-dozen complaints with 311 in the past year, that the hot water has been an issue for a long time, and that when she withheld rent, as was within her rights, Dermot wrecked her credit. She said that half the tenants have vacated in the last year, three on my floor alone, and that she's moving out before her lease is up because she doesn't want to deal with Dermot anymore.

A NY1 article published earlier this month (that I wish I'd read before signing my lease) says:

Tenants [of another property in Brooklyn] say they're being forced out of their rent controlled and rent-stabilized homes by new landlords who are transforming them into luxury apartments. They claim they're being harassed with all sorts of tactics, from frivolous lawsuits to challenges to their leases, to being denied basic repairs...

...Jackson's been living in a rent-stabilized apartment at 99 Lafayette for 16 years. She says her problems began when the building was bought by the Dermot Company in February. The same developer also owns 266 Washington, where many long-time residents shared similar stories.

I called my City Council representative to look into this matter. The conversation began like this:

"Hi. I just moved into the neighborhood and have found my new landlord to be somewhat negligent. It's a management company called Dermot."

"Do you live at 121 Seaman?" the councilman's associate asked, instantly naming my address.

"Uh... yeah."

"Yeah, they're a big problem," she said, warning me that I should file a rent overcharge form in order to check whether they're also ripping me off on the rent, which has been her experience. She also urged me to attend the upcoming tenant meeting in my building, which she will be present at.

I offer this as a cautionary tale to my fellow New Yorkers and those presently hunting for apartments in NYC: Stay the fuck away from Dermot. They are, to put it mildly, indifferent to the needs of their tenants; and to put it fairly, douchebags.

-Orthodox Anarchist

More like Dermot Mismanagement [Orthodox Anarchist]

Landlord Clears Out Apartment Day After Tenant Dies [KTLA via Metroblogging Los Angeles]

Wikipedia says:

As is (or as-is) is a legal term and concept used to disclaim liability for an item being sold. "As-is" denotes that the seller is selling, and the buyer is buying an item in whatever condition it presently exists, and that the buyer is accepting the item "with all faults", whether or not immediately apparent. This is the classic "buyer beware" situation, where the careful buyer should take the time to examine the item before accepting it, or obtain expert advice.

And now you know. Next time you're thinking of taking something as-is, know that you're taking full responsibility for the item with no warranties or disclaimers. Look the gift horse in the mouth before signing.

Are we right? Does As-Is apply this way to apartments? — BEN POPKEN

UPDATE: We asked Sam Glover, debt and renter lawyer and Consumerist contributor and he said:

....a sublessee assumes responsibility for the lease—including all damages—from the sublessor. If he wants to recover, he will indeed have to sue the previous tenant.

Assuming you haven't wrecked the place, of course. Assuming you have taken good care of your apartment:

• Bring a camera or camcorder with you for your move-in walkthrough. Try to capture the condition of the entire apartment, empty. Put this somewhere safe.
• When you leave, clean up carefully. Plug holes, clean the bathroom, etc. You may want to hire a cleaning service yourself, as many landlords will do that, anyway, and charge you for it.
• After you have cleared out your stuff and cleaned up, get out your camera again. Do a thorough walkthrough.
• Once you are out, send your landlord a letter telling him or her exactly what you did to clear out the apartment, especially if you hired a cleaning service, and give your landlord the address where you want your security deposit sent.

If you do all this and your landlord retains your security deposit, anyway, take them to conciliation court. You have great evidence. If you return the unit to the landlord in the condition it was in when you moved in, minus normal wear and tear, your landlord should not be able to retain your security deposit. — SAM GLOVER

Lakewood Municipal Judge Patrick Carroll ordered Richard Naumann to live in his Lake Avenue apartment building — which has no heat, hot water, operable stoves or ovens...

Naumann, who will only be allowed to leave the building between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. for work, will also be outfitted with an electronic monitoring device on his ankle to ensure he abides by the judge's command...

All rent money collected by Naumann must also be turned over to the city of Lakewood beginning June 1 so that residents and the gas company can petition for reimbursement.

Naumann allegedly owes nearly $114,000 to gas company Dominion East Ohio but court records show service would be restored if a payment of $22,300 was made...

Goes to show that taking a case to court can sometimes bring about sweet, comic, justice. — BEN POPKEN

Landlord forced to live in own building [UPI] (Thanks to Danilo!)

I moved out of an apartment a couple months ago. My fiance and I cleaned it before leaving, to make sure they don't try to charge us for nonsense. But well, that didn't help.

I have attached a copy of the letter I received detailing the charges.
$25 for vacuuming the carpet?
$10 for sweeping a tiny bathroom?!

And other "cleanup" charges. While I accept the gas bill, the others are just over doing it, in my opinion. Let's just assume I didn't clean up (which is not true. The whole apartment was cleaned)... is it not acceptable living wear and tear? Vacuuming a carpet, sweeping a floor, wiping down a sink? Is this not what they do when everyone leaves? I know the carpets were shampooed before I moved in, and the walls were painted. Is this not standard procedure?!

I know the charges aren't high, but is just the principle of the matter.

By the way, the 'trash removal' was 2-3 flattened moving boxes I forgot to take out.

What is the best way to try to get my money back for these charges? I need some help!

Thanks,
Keith

Dear Keith,

You're probably screwed.

It's very common for landlords to invent cleaning charges. Depending on Virginia's laws, you might have recourse by taking him to small claims court, but you might have a rough go of it without photos showing you left the apartment clean, or other documentation. Also, the filing fees, not to mention the hassle, will probably outweigh any settlement you might hope to win.

Probably not what you want to hear, but all things considered, it might be best just to move on.

— BEN POPKEN

The FTC has a sample dispute letter (scroll to bottom of page) that you can use to dispute inaccuracies.

• Be specific, and tell the consumer reporting agency ("CRA") why the information is inaccurate.
• Send any documents that back up your dispute.
• Keep copies.

The CRA then has 30 days to investigate the dispute, modify or delete the information as appropriate (including noting that the information is disputed), and notify you of what they did. If the CRA cannot verify the information, it must delete it.

If you make a dispute and the CRA removes the information, you win. If you make a dispute and the CRA does not remove the information, you may have a good lawsuit against the CRA.

If you make a dispute and the CRA does not remove inaccurate information after a written dispute, and if you later suffer damage (i.e., another denial of rental housing), you can sue the CRA and get your actual financial losses, damages for emotional distress, and attorney fees and costs. Consumer attorneys should be willing to take FCRA cases on contingency due to the attorney fee provision. (Find consumer attorneys at NACA.) — SAM GLOVER

This is virtually unheard of in New York. Almost always, landlords will raise the rents when you sign the lease again.

How did we and our girlfriend work together to attain this coup?

We:

• Established trust.
• Looked out for his interests.
• Found ways to benefit him financially, above and beyond simply paying the rent.
• Expressed interest in a more profitable business relationship in the future.

Here's how that translates into real-world action. We:

• Paid rent in full and on time. On the couple of occasions we couldn't, we let our landlord know in advance.
• Never bounced checks
• Were always nice to our landlord.
• Made requests for things to be fixed and checked up on them, but never nagged. We took a tone of "let's improve the place" not "here's what you need to do for us."
• Sent out notices to friends about the fantastic and vacant retail space our landlord had below us.
• Hooked up the landlord with another broker in the neighborhood who might be able to help him rent out the space.
• Went in to sign our new lease on the week before New Year's, the slowest week of the year.
• Asked about all the elephant statues he had in his office.
• In the meeting, praised the building and expressed interest in possibly purchasing the apartment.

When he passed off the papers to an assistant, he said, "raise the rent to $2000." He kinda smiled and looked at us. We looked at him directly in the eyes with no expression on our face. We said nothing. Our landlord said, "they're not listening." We said nothing. He said to his assistant, "Keep it the same. Just extend the current lease. That's the easiest."

His assistant asked him, "are you sure?" at least three times.

A week later we handed in our rent checks, along with a big bottle of scotch and a Happy New Year card. The checks totaled $1650.

Giant props to our girlfriend who was the driving force behind most of the nice, extra social lubrication stuff. It was her idea to give him a bottle of scotch, for example. — BEN POPKEN

After we posted his story, Woodmont Real Estate contacted Doug to say they would zero out the bill, on the following conditions:

• Remove his webpage
• Remove his negative comments from two online apartment review sites
• Make, "everything you wrote about us on the Internet," disappear

Doug did the first two, but has no control over the last. Our post, "One Pearl Place Is A Shithole" is currently the seventh Google result for "One Pearl Place."

Since the offer was made last Friday, the collection calls have ceased. "Kudos" to One Pearl Place for desisting from harassing the renter.

Internet infamy, working for you. — BEN POPKEN

After his dad had a stroke, Doug left his San Jose apartment to take care of his father in Louisiana.

He figured his deposit would cover the 13 days outside of his required 30-day notice. One Pearl Place assured him the unit would rent within a week.

Now One Pearl Place wants to charge Doug $400 over and above his deposit to cover not having a renter. This might have something to do with them not listing it for over a month.

They're offering to "meet him halfway" and only take $200. Doug is balking.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Previously, Doug delighted us with his baiting and pranking of online pharmacy telemarketers.— BEN POPKEN

Come Home to One Pearl Place [Doug's Site]

Renters at 706 Riverside Drive just won a lengthy legal battle against Pinnacle who wanted to charge new renters $2000 in building where most of the people paid $600. To justify the increase, Pinnacle claimed thousands of dollars of improvements. Improvements that were never made. In perusing the hundreds of documents the housing company submitted, tenants found:

• $1,029 for 100 gallons of latex paint and $454 for 45 gallons of ceramic adhesive. Enough paint and adhesive for an entire building.
• $336 for five toilet flushometers. The apartment has only two bathrooms, and the existing flushometers showed no signs of recent replacement.
• $169 for 240 light bulbs - 80 per apartment.

Under state law, a landlord can raise an apartments rent by one-fortieth of the improvement cost.

"Phony Repairs Add to Abuse" [NY Daily News]

• By threatening to withhold loans, NYC Banks to work with housing advocacy groups to pressure landlords to make building repairs. Related: flying pigs covered with hell-snow wreck havoc upon downtown Manhattan.
  
• AT&T suing 2 suburbs blocking upgrade from copper to fiber optic. We side with Ma Bell. Get out of the way of progress, people!
  
• Wal-Mart wants to get into banking, Its foes don't want it to. Next up: Wal-Mart orders a sandwich, protests ensue.
  
• Platinum found in women's bodies with breast implants, study shows. A surprise, as we thought the platinum was usually found on their hair.
  
• HOWTO: understand the new FICO credit scoring system. It's just like grammar school.

As far as landlords go, we've been pretty lucky. Probably the worst one we ever had kicked us out of downtown loft just because, get this, we threw a 500+ plus party in it and then called her up to get the maintenance man to take care of the beer spills in the stairs. Go figure.

But as readers of the bad landlord watch blog Trembicky know, this isn't always the case. They point to a post on the Manhattan User's Guide on what to do if your landlord is sucking major asbestos. We're talking not making repairs, failing to provide services or there's building code violations. More information about this filing of a Housing Proceeding here

There's also this instructional video, amusing in its own decontextualized way.

We ve heard, and experienced, landlords taking out exorbitant cleaning fees made all the more teeth-gnashing by the apartment being filthy when we moved in but this is the first we ve ever heard of a landlord cancelling the check AFTER it s been issued.

What should William do...?

First we advise checking his lease to see what it says about deposit remittance. Then, take a gander at the SoCal renter code. Some states basically require you to take pictures of the apartment before moving in, otherwise you re screwed and whatever the landlord says, goes, along with your deposit. We, and William, are wondering though that if cancelling the check moves the offense from simply gouging to something illegal.

We also think he may just be screwed and this is why you should never give your landlord your last month's rent.

Anyone else know better than us? The full text of his letter follows.

Dear Consumerist,

I live in Southern California, and I received a letter today from my bank (BofA), telling me that a stop payment was issued on my return deposit from my previous landlady. Because of this, several of my checks bounced, and I got slammed with insufficient fund fees.

She gave me my check on Feb 22, and I deposited it the next day, Feb 23. And today, I get a letter in the mail telling me a stop payment was issued, and the amount of the check was debited from my account, ALONG WITH A $5 service fee!!!

The bank was "nice" enough to tell me that the stop payment was issued on Feb 23 (the day AFTER she gave me my check), but the debit didn't happen until two days ago (March 1), causing all sorts of wonderful problems with my bills.

Upon calling my landlady, she said that she never performed a stop payment. Then, she started saying things like how she needed to pay to clean the room I rented, and that there were issues. But, I had officially left in the middle of January, and even when I received my return deposit check on Feb 22, there wasn't a peep about any of these "problems."

Being the trusting type, I went to the branch, and asked them who had the power to stop payments. Only the person in charge of the account, or someone with their power of attorney. Hmmmmmm.....

I'm afraid that she's not going to give me my money back, because of all these "issues" that just happened to come up in the last week (the room was not left "clean" etc.,.) Shouldn't she have told me that BEFORE giving me my check, instead of just taking it out? Isn't that sort of illegal (Fraud?) Is there anything I can do about it? What about these godawful insufficient funds fees and late fees? Has this ever happened to anyone else?

Hope the fellow Consumerist community can help a guy out.

Sincerely,

William D.

"...Her 'grandmotherly' attitude wasn't niceness, it was pathological we were the dolls in the 'doll house'..."

"I locked the door behind her and told her I was going to bed and she needed to go home. She banged and yelled for a bit, and I walked into the kitchen just as she literally vaulted herself through the window..."

Our thrilling tale continues after the jump...

I've lived in a lot of rentals, and I've had some pretty rotten landlords along the way. I could talk about leaks, drunken handymen, electrical fires, and garbage all day long, but I didn't have any of these problems with the worst of all of them. My worst experience ever was with a gal named Georgia Anshus. She was a retired schoolteacher and seemed nice enough, and she was willing to rent me a room in a pretty decent house. There were two other rooms rented out, which meant I didn't have to look for roommates or be responsible for deadbeats. Best of all, she seemed to care about the house she called it her "doll's house"* and everything was neat and up to date.

Unfortunately, the "sweet old lady" had a dark side. For starters, her 'grandmotherly' attitude wasn't niceness, it was pathological we were the dolls in the 'doll house.' Shortly after I moved in, she began to make weekly visits, even though she lived almost eighty miles away. Whenever she came, she'd bring a little "gift" for example, a dirty old footstool held together with duct tape that she expected us to keep in the living room. Once, she brought a pair of ceiling fans, and a ladder- for me to use to install them. I also glazed windows and loaded a truck with a previous tenant's junk because she had a 'bad back.'

The home improvements were an annoyance, but worse were her surprise visits to inspect them. When she discovered one day that we'd removed the leather belts she'd added to our living room curtains (!), she went nuts. She calmed down when we promised to put them back, and all seemed well.

After that, things got really strange. She would call the house while we were doing laundry and demand we close the garage door, or she'd complain that the drapes were open, or that we hadn't watered the lawn long enough. After we had guests, she came by to holler at us and to tell us we needed permission to have company! Turns out she recruited another old lady who lived across the street to spy on us and spy she did, ratting us out for every little thing.

The shit really hit the fan when I committed the unforgivable sin I had a cup of coffee with my neighbor, who had committed a grievous crimes against her when he parked his pickup overnight in the driveway while the house was unoccupied. This criminal act on my part necessitated a special trip to come out and yell at me I was never, ever to speak to this man, on pain of eviction. This was included in a bizarre set of rules she posted in the garage. After that, we decided to pretty much ignore her. We stopped answering her calls, so she started turning up almost daily and when she turned up, she wouldn't leave. She wasn't nice, but she wanted to socialize after she yelled at us.

After one particularly ridiculous tantrums (I trimmed the rosebushes wrong), I just couldn't take any more. I asked her to leave. She just kept on puttering around the house, criticizing this and that, rearranging the furniture, etc. When she decided to take my broom outside, I locked the door behind her and told her I was going to bed and she needed to go home. She banged and yelled for a bit, and I walked into the kitchen just as she literally vaulted herself through the window. (A previous victim, the same gal whose 'junk' I'd moved, related to me that the 'old lady' had thrown her against a wall!)

At that point, I'd had it, and called the police to run her off. At this point, I was at my wits' end and I decided to relocate. I gave her thirty days' notice; my roommates simply left.

About two days later, I was heading for the bathtub, and being alone, I had nothing on. I got about halfway there when the front door opened, and in strolled a man with a duffel bag and a toolbox my new roommate, who she'd found at a homeless shelter. Long story short, she'd promised him free rent to do repairs around the house, and without bothering to mention it to me, gave the man a key. It took my crazy new roommate about five minutes to go from "nice to meet you" to "I'll f***king kill you." Needless to say, I left that night.

She sued me, too, for the entire month's rent, including that of the roommates she'd selected.

*This is where it gets really weird. She called it the doll's house, she told me, because she'd found a doll collection in the attic. When I met my husband years later, I discovered his granddad had built the house and raised his mother in it. The first thing she asked me when she found out I'd lived there was whether or not I'd seen a box of dolls in the attic.

Who knows what would've happenned had she stayed. Something very bad and involving music boxes being played too slow......