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August 9, 2006
Legal responsibities of Landlord
This is a legal question, but any general information or help would be appreciated. I have owned a 3 fam brownstone for 1 1/2 yrs. I have been renovating the place floor by floor (with some tenants in building ) and now I am finishing up the duplex I will be living in. I have a full time job which requires me to travel - not all the time, but enough to be an issue regarding being available for a possible emergency, since I am single. I have a network of tradesmen and my contractor who could help out when something happens when I am away, assuming I know that something has happened, but what is the law regarding building maintenance when the landlord is away. So far, with luck, everything has been OK, no emergencies, but what if there were? What if the tenant wasn't able to get me (on a recent trip I could only access messages and not be available real time). I realized that there is a big hole here - if something serious happened when I was away, this could be a major liability on my part, not to say to my property or to the health and well being of the tenants. What is the law about the tenants having access to a maintenance person in a landlord's absence?
Are there any practical solutions to provide service to tenants during periods of landlord absence?
This is another question and I am sorry if I sound cranky -- but I recently had an interchange with a tenant couple about being available to meet with service people. In response to a tenant's issue with having ants, I asked that they call the exterminator I use, that I would pay for the extermination, of course, but would they arrange the scheduling and meet the guy? I was told that they did not want to hang around waiting for workers -- they both work very long hours, out most of the time etc. They wanted me to arrange and be avaialble to supervise the workers. I was completely non-plussed at first, but then I wondered rather than get into a "Oh yeah, I'm busier than you discussion" I wondered what other busy landlords do with busy tenants about scheduling these kind of things. What are the laws regarding the scheduling and supervision of workers? What if I hired a part-time super? I am responsible to "super"vise him? Where are the boundaries here?
Any information would be appreciated.
Comments
On the second point, avoid the conflict, be there for the appointment, and if you run into the same sort of issue repeatedly, or the tenants otherwise piss you off on a regular basis, don't renew their lease at the end of the term. Save yourself some stress...
Posted by: 1847 at August 9, 2006 4:31 PM
As a former tenant myself, I think you do have to provide services and cannot expect the tenant to arrange for their own services. They are paying you to do these things for them, otherwise they would be homeowners.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2006 4:47 PM
You should have an exterminator come regularly, and it is not the tenant's responsibility to let him in, it is the landlord's.
As for service calls, it is the landlord's responsibility to let them in. If the tenant does it, my experience there is a problem anyway, and do not advise it.
As for being out of town, it happens, no big deal. If there is an emergency, then the tenant may have to deal with a service man, such as a plumber.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2006 7:32 PM
My landlord tries to get me to do anything that needs doing and "subtract it from the rent" and I get really annoyed about it. IT ISN'T OUR JOB! in fact if a tenant reports problems, sometimes with things that don't even bother him/her, then a landlord should thank them.
There are too many landlords who are scraping by on renting the only asset they have out for market rent and then expect the tenants to deal with contractors and so on to keep the place in good shape, barely and grudgingly allowing the tenant to send less rent, and a receipt. Screw that! Fix it yourself - you own the asset, we rented all of it in working order! - otherwse we should just withhold rent until it is fixed!
All that said if the landlord calls and say can someone be home on either of these two times, as a tenant, I would try to be helpful. But ideally, he has a key and someone local to let the guys in with pre-arranged warning.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2006 10:06 PM
I'm a landlord and a handyman, plus a manager for an additional building. I look after 6 apartments. Because these are old buildings something comes up much more often than you would think. Some are small problems a tenant trips a breaker and has no lights. Some are a big deal, like a boiler going out in the dead of winter. All these things take time and is the responsability of the landlord to provide that service. If you can't take time yourself to tend to these tasks, hire a super that will.
Posted by: Rick at August 10, 2006 7:28 AM
The general opinion that landlords need to let in the exterminator surprises me. If the tenant has ants because, say, they leave food out or otherwise cause the problem themselves, why is the landlord responsible? Is the obligation to provide periodic extermination written into your lease? Sure, if the place in infested with rodents and it isn't apartment specific, then the landlord has to take care of it. But ants? Is the landlord responsible for taking in packages or dry cleaning when there is no doorman? Lets not be prima donnas....
As far as having someone available when you're out of town, either make a deal with a "street super" (those are the guys who take care of garbage and vacuum out the halls, charging $100 to $200 a month) to be available. We do that, as well as have a neighbor who is typically available when we are gone. We've helped each other out when we each had floods. I give tenants a list of service people to call and they seem very happy with that.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 10, 2006 8:11 AM
original poster here.... Thank you for your comments. Also thank you for the "prima donna" comment too, since that is the line/boundary I am trying to define. I am still interested in the legal requirements of a landlord to have a "super" available in his/her absence. I wonder if that is defined in the lease or the NYS tenant/landlord law. Thanks again.
Posted by: anon at August 10, 2006 9:54 AM
I own a small building (4 fam) in addition to my primary residence and work full time. Repairs can be challanging.
Landlord tenant law is a guide for behavior but cannot regulate every situation. I provide prompt service to my tenants; but when I can't be there I tell them in advance. As a landlord I rent my place and am required to make repairs. The tenant is suppose to allow access to me and my agents to make repairs. I think reasonable people can figure out 95% of these situations.
My advice is to let tenants know your expectations upfront(after a good tenant screening). Let them know you work full time. Ask for their help when you are out of town; and don't be afraid to return the favor when they need some consideration (e.g. a late rent payment, a little noise for a special event, receiving a package, etc.)
I also ask frequently how things are in the apartments. It is better to schedule repairs when convenient for you instead of the mid-day or mid-nite surprises.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 10, 2006 10:20 PM
Murphy's Law: Something will always go wrong with the house when you're away. At least that's how it happens it my life. Leave emergency contact #'s for your tenants, both your # and for handypeople. I give my tenants a discount for taking care of snow removal, garbage, etc. If you're not around often, you should probably put someone in charge...just in case. But chill out...sh*t happens.
Posted by: Yente at August 11, 2006 9:07 AM
There is no legal requirement to have a super in your absence. Your legal requirement is defined in the lease: maintain the apartment in good working condition. If there is an emergency, you must deal with it somehow.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 11, 2006 2:29 PM
If you are gone for weeks/months at a time hire a management company. They will provide the maintenance/super/emergency 24 hour service. A super will have to have access to your/a credit card account in order to be of any use. Repair companies will not service a building unles they know they will be paid. If you arrange for service contracts before hand this will be very helpful in emergency situations, especially boiler problems. Same goes for the exterminator. In your case once a month is plenty. You can arrange with your tenant a specific date and time each month for service. If your tenant agrees yet fails to be home when the service person arrives, it's no longer your problem as you provided a free service that they refused. And by the way, what house in brooklyn didn't have ants? I have a particular tenant who will be leaving that has been a terrible headache from the start. She rents a garden apt. and wanted me to get rid of the mosquitoes and the bees. Bees for Christ's sake! I have an amazing garden, but those nasty flowers were attracting bees, and she was unable to enjoy the back yard.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 11, 2006 7:44 PM
Original poster here.... There has to be a happy medium somewhere about tenant's showing some judgement in ringing the alarm bell; I consider myself a very responsive, honest and serious person about my responsibilities but I'm hard wired with a circut breaker for prissiness. The service contracts is a good idea; I am not away for weeks or months at a time, but the trips are sometimes out of the country which is a hassle in emergencies. I think I will set up service contracts and get a guy in a condo complex nearby to deal with minor issues. I don't think ants are an emergency but I got SOS communications on this trip (they knew where I was going) which prompted my questions (and pique...). Thanks everyone.
Posted by: original poster at August 12, 2006 1:53 PM
As a tenant who was also a super for the pre war bldg I used to live in, there were several things we delat with. First, from what we were told, a full time super is required for buildings over (and I am not sure of the exact number here so I'll give a range:) 4-6 apartments. With 4 or less families in a house it seems foolish for tenants to be prima donnas. But it is the responsibility of the landlord to have an exterminator come regularly, and the exterminator came on a specified day and time each month. Tenants did not have to let them in. Or they gave me permission to let them in. I did a lot of general maintainence and got to know most of the tenants pretty well. And many of them were there to help me out when I was in the hospital, or too sick afterwards to do much. There were 16 apartments in that building. Big maintainence stuff was handled by the landlords company and very often she asked tenants to make scheduling arrangments themselves- not because she was lazy, but because she wanted it to be convenient for the tenant. So the tenant could set up an appointment- not wait around for hours.
It is just as easy to be a bad tenant as a bad landlord, but tenants have to understand that you are their landlord, not their slave or gopher. All you have to do is provide the service- which you are. You made the service available and they refuse to use it. In court a judge would find it ludicris that you provided the service and the tenants refused it. Tenants also have a responsibility - to keep the apartment in good stead.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 13, 2006 11:39 AM
And you are not their personal housekeeper either.
Posted by: Anonymous at August 13, 2006 11:40 AM
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