Problem With RC Tenant
I own a house with a rent control tenant, yes I know, who thinks he can do whatever he wishes and does this…among other things! After discovering that he hands out, and has been handing out for years, front door keys to whomever he likes so he does not have to come down the one…
I own a house with a rent control tenant, yes I know, who thinks he can do whatever he wishes and does this…among other things! After discovering that he hands out, and has been handing out for years, front door keys to whomever he likes so he does not have to come down the one flight to let his people in. I changed the front door lock. You know, the lock with keys where you need a card that authorizes you to make a copy. I gave him two keys as required by law, thinking at least that not everyone had keys to my house. So now he puts one key in the mailbox and hands out copies of the mailbox key to who knows. After informing him about jeopardizing the security of the building, etc, etc, I was told “F†you! Not my problem! While I try to figure out how and who can help me get these people out of my house, can anyone suggest a way for me to short circuit this S.O.B. and protect my wife and kids and MY property from strangers in the hall.
Side note; Any housing lawyer recommendations would be appreciated as well. I have evidence, pictures and recordings as backup. Yes, its bad.
Thanks!
Buy a USPS-approved mailbox at Lowe’s or Home Depot. You can install it yourself, but you will need to make arrangements with the Post Office to complete the installation with a keykeeper outside your building and their own universal lock on the indoor mailbox. The PO has a one-point delivery policy and actually prefers these indoor boxes. (One-point means that the carrier delivers only to a mailslot, indoor box, or box or gate under the stoop, and not to a combination of those). Your tenant will have a key to his own mailbox, but that’s vastly different than unlimited access through the front door. BTW, be very careful about implementing various suggestions to change locks, deny access, opening the tenant’s mailbox, etc.—many are outright violations of law and will bite you badly in housing court.
OP said he bought the house with RC tenant in place.
Have you had YOUR house since 1976? Was the relationship always this bad or is he just now starting to piss you off?
How much are key card locks?
No mailbox here. All the mail is delivered through the gate underneath the stoop. In fact I actually cut out a small section to accomodate small parcels.
That said, if he’s the one who picks up the mail at that location first you may run into another problem with your mail!!!!
Or there are other options like a mailslot in the door.
Mutual respect is all I’m really after, but I own and pay for the this, MY house.
I bought the house with him in it and was willing to give him what he earned. Give and take, I’ve been in Brooklyn since 1976, I didn’t run here from Manhattan last week.
The buzzer, at my expense, gives him the ability to sit and make uninformed convenience choices to let anyone into MY house. And believe me, he will. Now that may be his unalienable right as a NYC RC tenant, but it undermines the security of my family and my other tenants personal property. I have been extremely civil to him and the situations created by his actions risking my families safety – Have I said that enough yet?
I do not loath him, his friends, family or the strange people in MY house at odd times, just his, I exist therefore I am entitled attitude and his total disrespect for property he does not own.
I am trying to have him evicted but he has the shield of NY state on his side. Here’s hoping thousands of dollars spent to live in MY house pans out in the end.
I will investigate a new mailbox lock option, thanks that is news to me.
And thanks, Lilytang for the phone number. we are doing that at least.
get rid of the mailbox and put a mail slot in the front door. throw any of his mail at the apt door step.
And make him pay for an additional key each time. Those aren’t cheap.
yes, take the key out of the mailbox. If he tells you he lost it, give it back to him (as if you had a new copy made for him). do this each time he leaves it in the mailbox. Assuming you check the mail each day, problem solved!