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]

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)

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]