Reduced Security and no receipt
Hello, My husband and I recently moved out of 1 bedroom after our lease was up because our landlord refused to negotiate our rent and refused to investigate what is a potentially very serious safety issue. (We discovered a live gas line connected to our bedroom light fixture that was not properly capped.) We gave…
Hello,
My husband and I recently moved out of 1 bedroom after our lease was up because our landlord refused to negotiate our rent and refused to investigate what is a potentially very serious safety issue. (We discovered a live gas line connected to our bedroom light fixture that was not properly capped.)
We gave our notice at the end of September and paid through the end of October, despite moving out in early October. We did quite a bit of minor work on the place during our 12 months there and left the place spotless. The one potential issue was having done some painting without permission. Previous tenants had painted both the kitchen and bathroom bright colors so we didn’t think it would be a problem. Plus, the quality of the walls was poor enough that the idea of being charged to fix them seemed out of the question. Adding to this, our landlord was in our apartment at least half a dozen times and never commented on the paint. It was a very light beige which was not noticeable different than the original off-white.
After we moved out we tried repeated to contact our landlord via phone and email to ask about our security and any potential damages. We did not hear back until last week, Dec. 11, two full months after we moved out!
We finally got the check back and our landlord took out $800 from our security to repaint the walls that we painted. It is suspect to me that it would cost so much to paint a third of the 560 sq. ft apartment. Plus, she has yet to provide us with any documentation or receipts.
Here are my questions:
– What are our rights if she does not provide proper documentation on repairs?
– Are there laws on landlords having to repaint every x years? The apartment was not painted when we moved in and I wonder when it was last painted. Is there any way to prove that the walls NEEDED to be repainted anyway and that therefore we should not be obligated to pay for it.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
I’m considering getting out of the LL business when I hear of tenants like this. How does one “discover” a live gas line? I consider myself pretty savvy and I have no idea how one does this. It’s either obviously leaking (in which case I cannot believe a LL ignoring the issue) or it’s not (in which case we have a paranoid tenant).
File in small claims court, it’s easy. Have all your paperwork in order, lease, notes and letters, you’ll probably win. Then you can place a lien just for fun and giggles. This type of LL probably won’t show or pay. I had so many psycho landlords in this city, I bought. My better recommendation is to go to the now online court system and check your landlord first. If I had done that, I would have saved myself lots of trouble. The 2 worst LL I had literally had dozens of lawsuits in lt and small claims. Of course I didn’t look until it was too late. One of those f@&$s actually admitted to me he liked court better than Atlantic City, better odds and shorter trip. He never ever paid the security back unless forced by a judge.
Is this forum not about giving others advice? Bullying people who are dealing with housing issues and looking for friendly advice is pretty low.
“When we confronted her about the live gas line, something clicked, and she suddenly became a very scary person. ”
Imagine what would have happened if you would have held back last month’s rent! A veritable homicidal maniac!
If you’re not willing to fight, you pay the money.
Thanks for all of the responses. We strongly considered not paying the last months rent but were worried the landlord would take extreme action against us, such as changing the locks. When we confronted her about the live gas line, something clicked, and she suddenly became a very scary person.
everyone always gets pissed off at me for saying it, so why should this time be different? Never pay your last month’s rent, always withhold and offset via security. Assuming you’ve been a good tenant of course.
Search the archives: Ripped off tenants, dozens. Ripped off landlords, none.
This is a ll site.
crap. i hope that’s not my landlord. he owns a bunch of buildings in the area and i wonder if i am going to get doinked on those kind of charges when i move out. sigh.
The landlord’s an ass. File a complaint against him in Small Claims court, or visit the free help desk at Brooklyn Housing Court. The Housing Maintenance Code and Multiple Dwelling Law are NOT restricted to rent-regulated apartments. Read the HMC link below thoroughly. Tenants should use common sense as well as protect themselves by requesting LL’s permission in writing before altering an apartment. LL’s and tenants both should always do a walk-through together on move-out date, when returning keys, and record any questions and conflicts and/or both sign paperwork that all is broom clean, in good order, and meriting full refund of security deposit.
Housing Maintenance Code — Chapter 2; Subchapter 2 – Maintenance, Services and Utilities; Article 3 – Painting:
http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/hmc/sub2/art3.html
Am I entitled to have my apartment painted?
Yes, the landlord must paint occupied apartments in multiple dwellings (buildings with three or more apartments) every three years. (NYC Administrative Code §27-2013).
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/tenants/faqs-for-tenants.shtml
The repainting every 3 years rule applies only to rent stabilized units.