Brrr! Has anyone dealt with consistent heating issues beyond 311?
If the heat and lack of response is as bad as you imply + the fact that you have only recently moved in (less than a year?) And assuming that you are paying a free market rent, I would send your landlord a certified mail notice of intent to cancel the lease due to continued lack of services and breach of the lease on the landlords part. Start looking for somewhere else to move to, keep records of heat and 311 calls etc. Taking your landlord to Court over heat & hot water issues is a very time consuming issue, assuming that you have a job and a life…it will take less time and stress to find a new apartment and this is the best time of year to see if the heat & hot water works! If your current landlord refuses to return your security deposit because you broke the lease, taking them to small claims court with all your records and certified notice will solve that issue. If you paid a brokers fee to find the apartment, file a complaint with the Broker. You may even guilt them into finding another apartment for you for no fee? They should certainly have a serious conversation with the current landlord.
resident2
in About Brooklyn 11 years and 9 months ago
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moby283 | 11 years and 9 months ago
I’ve lived in a building in Bed-Stuy for the last year that could politely be described as “a total Monet”–it looks nice on the outside, but I’ve had tons of structural, heating, and plumbing issues since I moved in. The worst, and most consistent, is the heat/hot water. The heat and hot water often shut down, and the property manager is generally responsive (gets it fixed within a day). HOWEVER, the management company owners and the manager himself are all ultra-orthodox and observe the Sabbath. This means that if the problem occurs on a Friday afternoon, I have no assistance until late Saturday (or realistically, Sunday). I’ve spent several weekends so far this year showering at the gym and blasting my space heater 🙁 I’ve requested in writing and by phone a contact person for weekends when this occurs, but of course I’ve received no response. I’ve also filed online complaints with 311 again and again and AGAIN (and judging from the complaint log, which I can view online, my neighbors have as well), but it seems like nothing comes of this. The property manager told me last month that it was an issue with a dirty oil tank, but since he claims to have had it cleaned and this is still happening, that seems not to have been the case. At this point I’m threatening them to prorate my rent and not pay for the days when I don’t have heat or hot water. I’ve been reading about the housing court process online and it seems that judges are generally pretty friendly to tenants in these situations (if it comes to that). But I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions or has been through a similar experience before it gets that hostile? It seems like 5 days is the magic length of time to be able to sue your landlord for lack of services, and while it’s never been 5 consecutive days of no heat or hot water, it was a total of 8 days in December (and given that it’s only January 4, we’re well on track to meet or break that record)! To my mind it shouldn’t matter whether the days are consecutive or not, but I don’t know if the court would see it that way. I’m also wondering if there’s a step between 311 complaints and housing court. My complaints are clearly being logged somewhere, but nothing seems to happen with them beyond that. I would be truly grateful for any advice or personal experience you could share.
huesos | 11 years and 9 months ago
As a practical matter, when an oil-fired boiler shuts down, sometimes it’s simply a matter of pushing a reset button on the burner to get it (at least temporarily) running again. If your landlord is reasonable, he may welcome the opportunity to show you how to do this. If you have to go to court, one of the things the judges used to look at is how many open violations the building has. There’s no rule of thumb and it depends on the seriousness of the violations, but if it’s under perhaps 15 it’s certainly not in the slumlord category. It’s it’s over fifty, it’s getting up there. You can look up the number of violations on the DOB website. Of course it would be very helpful if one of the violations is for no heat or hot water. NYC is pretty good about sending inspectors out to check on heat complaints and if the heat and hot water are really down as much as you seem to be saying, an inspector should have verified it by now. You’ll spend several mind-numbing hours in court just waiting and if you have a normal 9-5 job it may not be easy, but you may have no choice. Are you rent-stabilized? If not, and you go to court, be prepared not to be offered a renewal lease when it expires. These are all things you need to factor into your decision.
ellenlourie | 11 years and 9 months ago
Regarding advise: “**As a practical matter, when an oil-fired boiler shuts down, sometimes it’s simply a matter of pushing a reset button on the burner to get it (at least temporarily) running again. If your landlord is reasonable, he may welcome the opportunity to show you how to do this.”** If you have ignition transformer issue, and burner is a direct ignition type, then few resets will fill combustion chamber with oil, and if ignition transformer will produce spark, you will end up in hospital with lawyers waiting for you to wake up. Not all simple things are simple when you deal with boilers