Tenant Leaving Water On
I suppose the oldest tenant trick in the book is to deliberately leave hot water running so as to jack up a landlord’s heating costs. Any good advice on how to combat this and document it? I currently have access to the apartment below (but won’t for long) which I assume will help. And I’m…
I suppose the oldest tenant trick in the book is to deliberately leave hot water running so as to jack up a landlord’s heating costs. Any good advice on how to combat this and document it? I currently have access to the apartment below (but won’t for long) which I assume will help. And I’m not the least bit adverse to legal action, but am wondering exactly how to extract proof of the situation.
Re: Johnny’s note: depending on the nature of the leak, a constantly running toilet can easily add $1,000 to your quarterly bill. The cost of heat probably pales next to the cost of water running constantly from a fully opened faucet: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/ways_to_save_water/index.shtml
Wouldn’t the quarterly water bills show directionally what’s going on? Assuming roughly same number of residents in apt?
A landlord can bring a nuisance holdover if a tenant, a member of the tenant’s family, or a guest of the tenant engages in a continuous course of conduct which threatens the health, safety, or comfort of neighboring tenants or other building occupants. It is illegal to shut off their water, or lock them out, or take any number of other actions. You can read more at: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/pdfs/Landlordbooklet.pdf
You can access free information in person at the Kings County Housing Court help center: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/nyc/housing/resourcecenter.shtml
This aughta be good.
Dooshy move, of course. But those are usually the reaction to a previous dooshy move.
So, what was your doosh move, mister Landlord?
I’ve never heard of it being done but I;m sure there are a**holes who would. My question is, why would they do it? Is it possible thre is a plumbing problem? Tell them you need to check- by law you are allowed access with proper notice and they can’t refuse you to do repairs or maintenance.And can you shut the water off to their apartment or put them on a separate meter and tell them you’re adding new charges to their rent? And then don’t renew the lease. Get rid of them before it gets worse.
The question I have is…How do you know they are leaving the water on? Are you spying on your tenants? If so, that may be why they are leaving the water running.
Why won’t you have access to an aprtment in a building that you own???
Did you ask them why they leave it on, assuming you know that they do??
Have you gone in and found it running for no apparent reason when they are not there?? And shut it off?? What is the tenants’ response???
there’s nothing illegal about it though. if a tenant is paying rent and the heat and hot water are included, they can leave the water running all day and night if they want.
maybe they have OCD and are washing their hands all the time too.
*rob*
Wow – your tenant is a douche