Forum Archive: Legal

Me and my wife live on the 4th(top) floor of a pre-war building in Astoria. Last week we accidentally left the water in the tub running and the water flooded the whole bathroom. The water went down to 3 apartments below through cracks in tiles in the floor and radiator hole. The water damaged the bathroom walls in 3 apartments below us.

Now, we acknowledge that this is our mistake and we would like to work this with our landlord and we are willing to pay for the damages. Last Monday, the landlord brought a contractor that she knew and he looked at the buildings and gave us an estimate. However, this contractor didn’t speak a word of English with us and had to communicate through the landlord in Greek.

Then the landlord told us that we can have a contractor of our own but that person needs to have a license and insurance, and wants all paperwork to be proper. We had a few people see the damages and by far the landlord’s contractor was the cheapest so we decided to go with him.

I asked my landlord if the contractor speaks any English at all and she said he does a little. So I tried to give him a call. He can barely speaks some English but when I wanted to talk to him about a payment plan, he said that I should talk to my landlord about that because she is the “boss”. I tried to explain to him that she is not the boss, I am, since I’m the one who is going to be paying for this damage but he just told me to talk to the landlord and hung up.

The day after the guy looked at our building my landlord gave a written estimate from the guy with the breakdown which doesn’t have any details except for how much each apartment would cost. When we wanted a detailed estimate, our landlord got mad at us and said that she doesn’t want to deal with this anymore and just wants us to get it fixed. She does have a really bad temper.

On the header of the “estimate” paper, there was the banner of the Greek guy’s contractor “company”. I tried the call the work number(So I could talk to somebody who might speak better English) and it went on a voicemail which sounded like just a home number(the voicemail said “we’re not at home”) and I searched for the address in Google Maps and it shows a house, rather than a store.

What should I do? I do believe that the landlord must be getting some money through insurance and I’m afraid that they’re just going to take our money and put it in their pockets. Legally do I really have to find someone that has a license and insurance? What are my options here.

PS. The apartment is rent stabilized and the tub didn’t have an overflow drain (if that makes any difference.)

I made an offer on a 2 family that was being sold “as is” in a guardianship case. My offer was accepted by the judge. Then guardian’s attorney told my broker that “he was concerned about my ability to get financing because the property insurance had lapsed.” I informed my attorney, who requested proof of insurance and written confirmation if the policy did or did not lapse. The guardian’s attorney refused to provide anything in writing but, claimed that the property was currently insured and went on to say, “Big deal– you found out that the insurance lapsed….sign the contract.” My lawyer told me this was a red flag and he could not advise me to proceed with the deal. I trust my lawyer but, have never heard of a lapse in property insurance being grounds to walk away from a deal. Any insights?

Hi, I would like to ask if anyone has any suggestions for how to proceed with the following problem:

I purchased a 3 family building 2 years ago…at that time the 3-family building next door was undergoing renovations and a very ugly addition had been built onto the top, raising it above our roof line by one extra story. They clearly didn’t do a good or legal job and are likely now in the process of losing the building. The work was never completed and stopped a year and a half ago and the building is now completely covered in mold inside. The original owner transferred ownership to his son I believe in an attempt to keep possession of the building. According to propertyshark, the son is still the current owner.

However they tried to sell the building about 6 months ago for about twice what it is now worth. I spoke with the real estate agent recently and he has not heard from them in several months.

Anyway, my big problem is that we now have leaks in our 3rd floor apartment in the shared wall which my contractor believes are caused by their illegal/shoddy construction work. I have left the son several messages asking him to help me solve this issue with no response. Given that they are most likely facing bankruptcy and seizure by the bank, I assume that getting a lawyer involved would be a big fat waste of time and money and just cause more damage to our building while it all works its way through the system.

So my question is: what are our options at this point? Can the DOB do anything? I have contacted our insurance company but am waiting to file a claim until we know a bit more about how to proceed.

We are hoping that once all the snow melts, the leaks will dry up for summer. My theory is that the snow is melting and running off through their 4th floor balcony and seeping into our building, but it could also be getting in from somewhere else. Very frustrating.

Thanks for your help!

As first time landlords, we’re discussing with our accountant about setting up a corporation. Has anyone else done this and were the benefits worth the time and filings?

Hypothetical Situation –

Thinking of entering into a contract in a new development building around town. Although the building has hit the requisite sold mark for financing, there have been no closings as of yet. We understand the delays are due to issues between the sponsor and their bank that delayed the process (sponsor could not close, but now claims they can do so).

Is this a huge red flag? What happens if a condo building gets foreclosed on before all of the units are sold? Are those units that already closed SOL? Is the main risk to the value of the property, or are there other risks involved with those units?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I live in Jersey City, but am hoping that my question is broad enough that the Brownstoner community might be able to help.

I live in a row of townhouses that has a shared parking lot in the back. My neighbors on both sides use their garage space as living space and often will park directly in front of their home (parallel to where the garage would be). I, however, use my garage to park my car and have difficulty maneuvering into and out of the space due to my neighbors parking their cars too close. I have lines painted on the ground to designated how much room they have to park before they block my garage, but despite repeated requests they regularly park too close and I either have to do a 9 point maneuver to get into/out of the garage, or ring their doorbell and ask them to move their vehicle.

How do I find out if it is illegal for them to park there? There are spaces against the fence for everyone, but because they have too many vehicles they can’t fit them all in (or can’t be bothered to do so). Also, there is a fire hydrant near one of the townhouse garages further down; can I call the fire department to say that these cars are blocking access?

Thanks.

Looking for an excellent litigator – we need to really put the pressure on our former condo management company and force them to fix some serious problems.

has anyone experienced eviction from a condo? most of the posts i searched on the forum were about renters who were being evicted.

does the process work the same way, ie serve them, marshall comes, knocks on door, if no answer, breaks down door, changes locks, etc?

thanks,

I have a rent controlled tenant. The last owners installed a high end bathroom and my tenant is currently paying 1/3 of the market rent. He wants a new kitchen, how much can i increase his rent by? Thanks