Crappy building management company

ilikemytoes

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to get some advice on dealing with my building's management company. A few months back my apartment suffered extensive water damage and the ceiling in our kitchen collapsed, leaving an approximately 2x2 foot hole in the ceiling. I contacted our super immediately who came over the next day and cut down the part of the ceiling that was dangling and then left. He said that he'd have to get the plumbing above us fixed before he could repair our ceiling, which makes sense. In the meantime, my roommate covered the gross, scary hole with some duct tape and bags. Approximately two months have passed and the hole remains. Partially due to our super missing us and his being able to only fix things Saturday morning. This past weekend our bathroom started leaking water from the walls and from above what I believe is a heating pipe. I called the super again who is on vacation and he told me to call the building management company, which I did. The company has been pretty rude and useless. My roommate and I had to call back 4 times and were put on hold at least 8 times before someone told me a super from a neighboring building will stop by tomorrow morning. I wonder if a super from a neighboring building will really be willing to make all these repairs or if he just going to look around and tell me to wait for my super to get back. Either way, I've decided to write a letter of complaint to my building management company sighting all the damage that has occurred over the past two months. Any advice on who I should contact if these repairs are never made and my building management company continues to not care?

Sorry this is so long, but any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

grandzu

Send the letter certified, stop paying rent, or sue in small claims court for breach of habitability.

anonymous

Subject: post this on the Craigslist message board

post this on the Craigslist "HOUSING" message board, someone will be able to give you some advice.

also call 311 and see if someone can give you advice on how to deal with this.

isla

IIRC there is a service that will come in and do emergency repairs and bill your management company if your management company refuses services.

I will find out the information.

Sorry you are dealing with this.

ilikemytoes

isla wrote: IIRC there is a service that will come in and do emergency repairs and bill your management company if your management company refuses services.

I will find out the information.

Sorry you are dealing with this.

Hi Isla,

Thanks so much! That sounds great.

isla

http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/tenants/how_to_report.shtml

If your building owner fails to maintain your apartment and provide essential services, you may report the condition to the City's Citizen Service Center at 311 (311 can be accessed outside of New York City by dialing (212) NEW YORK). For the hearing impaired, the TTY number is (212) 504-4115. The Center is open 24-hours a day, seve days a week.

picture of uniformed Code Enforcement inspector If the complaint is an emergency, a uniformed Code Enforcement inspector will be sent to inspect your apartment. Each time an inspector responds to a complaint, the tenant is provided the following information: a summary of issued violations; a complaint number; the date of inspection; and, the inspector's badge number. After the inspection, tenants receive two brochures outlining their rights and responsibilities and the most common health and safety violations. These brochures help tenants understand their rights and responsibilities and encourage them to work with the City in bringing buildings up to code. The building owner is also notified of the complaint.

If violation conditions are verified by the Inspector, a Notice of Violation will be sent to the owner instructing him/her to repair the condition. If the owner fails to correct immediately hazardous conditions, HPD's Emergency Repair Program may repair the condition and bill the owner for the cost of the repairs. Tenants can ask about the status of emergency repair work in their apartments by calling (212) 863-5510. NOTE: This number is for status requests only for ongoing HPD-sponsored emergency repair work that is already in progress. If your building owner fails to maintain your apartment and provide essential services, you need to report the condition to the City's Citizen Service Center at 311.

If the building owner does not correct violation conditions, tenants may initiate legal action against the landlord in Housing Court. The Court has the authority to order the landlord to correct violations and can assess serious penalties for failure to comply. There is a $45 fee to file the action, which the court may waive if tenants are unable to pay.

This should be a good place to start. HTH.