Tenant with Heating Complaints
I have a tenant who is a real pain in the you know what! She’ll sit around and wait til the temp drops 1 to 3 degrees below 55 OUTSIDE and then call and get real pissed off about how cold she is. I remind her that the heat is indeed on and that we’re…
I have a tenant who is a real pain in the you know what! She’ll sit around and wait til the temp drops 1 to 3 degrees below 55 OUTSIDE and then call and get real pissed off about how cold she is. I remind her that the heat is indeed on and that we’re only required to maintain an INTERIOR temp of 68 day/ 55 night. I told her if she had a personal preference I could buy her a heater to which she declined. Lately she’s been stalking my family and me and sometimes as soon as I’m home she’ll bang on my door or start cussing me out in front of my twin toddlers and then leaving very nasty voice messages. She’s sent me a photo copy of her gas bill because she complaints that since “I never turn the heat on”, that she’s had to heat her apartment with her oven open. By the way, her bill was at a massive grand total of 26 bucks for the month… I’ve told her we haven’t had any heating problems with the other tenants. Now she has tried reporting me to the Housing Preservation Dept. They didn’t find a heating problem but instead cited alterations and minor wall damage to her apartment. I can’t seem to get through to this women nor stop her from harassing my family and me.
“Also she is a rent-control tenant paying 130 bucks a month for her 2 bedroom apt.”
Let this be a lesson to anyone looking to buy a building with RC units. There is NO price so low enough to account for the aggravation from these entitled leeches.
Sorry, calling BS on OP. For past two years there have been flat sum increases for apartments where vacancies have not occurred in last six years. Either OP is not doing the math, or there are other major issues in the building preventing increases, or SCRIE is in effect and OP is or isn’t collecting the difference, or similar. I’m sure there’s plenty more missing from OP’s story. Calculations for rent-regulated apartment increases available here: http://bit.ly/92leA0
Oh, and btw, heating season ends May 31st. Leave your thermostat on and heat running. If it’s warm enough the boiler won’t kick in, and if it gets cold then it’s the LL’s obligation to provide heat.
Believe it or not it’s June 1. Crazy? Just another law insigated by politics.
i too pay more to park my car (in bay ridge!) than this bizzzoch pays in rent. wasn’t the heating season legally over apr 1st?
Rent-regulated?
She’s got the government protecting her. She can be as crazy and as bitchy as she wants.
And she’ll still be there long after you’re gone.
Vinca has it right. I have a 3 family building. The heat was turned off 2 weeks ago. No one is calling me about lack of heat. Put it in writing and don’t respond to her calls. Maybe you will get lucky and she will move out. That’s a slim chance because she’s a rent control tenant. She may not be that crazy to give up such a great deal. I pay more for a garage than she pays for her rent! What a lucky crazy bitch!
holy smokes — $130 for a 2 bedroom apt??? has this lady been living in there since the 1800’s or whatT?T?T
Once you’ve shared the fact that she is a rent controlled tenant you have cast this in a whole different light. unfortunately this sounds like a situation which will be forever adversarial, and, if I dare say, less interest to many on this blog. The machinations of the economic warfare that is rent control are not subject to logic or resolution. When you bought the place you knew she was there, and you knew you would have no control over her. So tough up, document everything, and cross your t’s. I would also agree with those who say turn up the heat. The woman upstairs can open a window.
Thanks for all your suggestions. A few other facts…I have raised the heat before several times and the tenant above her says her kids are too warm! Also she is a rent-control tenant paying 130 bucks a month for her 2 bedroom apt. She doesn’t believe me when I tell her I had raised the heat several degrees and other tenants are complaining. Says I’m full of $@#% and that I better stop f@#$in around and just raise the god@#$& heat or she’ll give me trouble cause she works in a huge law firm. I gotta say..I’m a nice guy but sometimes I do wanna put a hammer to her head, several times!