'Don't mess with the wrong tenants': Landlord refuses to do mandated apartment repairs, tenants get city inspectors involved

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Feb 3, 2025 8:00 AM EST

Landlords really seem to think that they can get away with anything these days. Regardless of whether or not they like it, they do have some basic responsibilities, in addition to collecting checks every month and raising the rent at the end of their tenants' leases. 

I wish I could say that what happened to this tenant was a unique experience, but I myself have to had to deal with a management company that refused to acknowledge glaring issues. It only took a couple of days after moving into my first New York City apartment for me to realize that there was a serious roach infestation. After numerous attempts to have the problem fixed, nothing was ever fully resolved. Matters were made worse when the ceiling began to break apart every time it rained. Once again, my management company and landlord refused to make meaningful changes, leaving me with no option but to get the city involved. Thankfully for them, I ended up moving out shortly thereafter and chose to let it go, but I regret not having the follow-through that this tenant had.

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    Cheezburger Image 10462353920
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • This tenant and his wife moved into the new apartment, only to discover that no maintenance had been done despite the landlord confirming that there would be work done prior to their move-in date. Their maintenance requests continued to be ignored for the following two months, and management even tried to place blame onto the tenants for the lack of progress. 

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    I moved into my apartment about two months ago, and I noticed that many basic maintainence issues (e.g moldy/leaking ceilings, toiler not rooted to the ground/ broken windows/ pipes that leaked debris,
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    unsafe wiring, heating did not turn on/ some outlets and smoke alarms didn't work etc...) that I had discussed with the broker prior to moving in had not been fixed,
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    despite the broker's assurances that these would all be addressed before move in. Additionally, no one had bothered to clean anything, so when I should have been unpacking and setting up my new home with my wife, I was busy on my hands and knees all day scrubbing every dirt-caked surface.
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    Fast forward a few days, we speak once again to the broker and to the building management about the conditions, which were not fixed. They send a superintendent who does not speak any English
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    and who disappears before fixing the issues, but not before leaving a mess. This repeats for a week until I finally call the city, who sends an inspector. Turns out, the above listed conditions of the apartment
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    are deemed illegal, and the landlord is given a certain window of time -- either 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days -- to fix each specific issue before fines begin to accrue.
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    City inspectors keep coming to check on the repairs. Meanwhile, an manager from the building is emailing us saying that we never gave them proper notice of the issues and is saying that we are in the wrong for calling the city. The other representatives from the management agency back her up,
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    totally ignoring all our prior conversations, many of which were in writing via email. Once I prove that we did indeed describe the issues to them, they blame me for not allowing them access to my apartment to do the repairs, which
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    still had not been completed due to workers disappearing before the repairs were complete, as well them not showing up at agreed- upon times.
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    FOR RENT 682-785
    via Erik Mclean
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    Lots of angry emails go back and forth, which ultimately lead to nothing. Two months into our lease, which is about a week ago, most of the repairs had finally been completed. Turns out, however, that when city inspectors were here, they
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    noticed that the front door does not automatically close, Apparently that is required for fire safety reasons. I honestly don't get it, but I don't particularly care, because at this point I am I. Workers were here to fix the door, while a city inspector came,
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    and told them that the door must close automatically from 30 degrees. Now the workers don't seem to be so skilled in math and they clearly were not able to estimate what a 30 degree angle looked like. They saw that the door closed automatically from a
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    much larger angle than 30 degrees and assumed it was okay. Tired of dealing with unreliable workers and the mangement in denail, I kept my knowledge to myself
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    After they left, I measured my door, which is 36 inches wide. If the door is opened to a 30 degree angle, the door can be viewed as a hypotenuse of a right angle triangle with degree measures of 30, 60, and 90. Taking the sine of 30 degrees and multiplying it by the hypotenuse length thus yields the length of the opposite leg of the triangle. In other
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    words, the door would need to self- close when the edge of the door is 18 inches away from the door frame. Did the door actually do that? Of course not. Now the manageent believes this issue to be fixed, but next time the
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    city shows up to inspect if it has indeed been fixed, I will show them the math and demonstrate how the door does not properly close. Fees for this issue not yet being remedied are accruing at a rate of $250/day. Once the city sees that the issue still has not been fixed, the fees may escalate even more.
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  • Our favorite part of this story is the fact that the tenants provided their neighbors with valuable information about how to advocate for themselves against the landlord down the road. Who doesn't love someone who pays it forward? Check out what members of the online community had to say about the tenacity of these tenants in the comments section!

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    The next phase is creating leaflets about tenant rights, how to get the city to lower one's rent if living conditions are poor, and how to call the city inspectors to fine the lanbdlord for unadressed maintainence issues. I have patiently
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    waited for two months for issues to be fixed that never should have existed in the first place in an apartment that is being newly rented out.
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    Don't treat your tenant well, then be prepared for the full extent of the law to be applied and made fully known to all your other tenants.
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    desertboots. Glad you know your rights.
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    3VikingBoys In the future I strongly suggest you take pictures of the empty dwelling for your protection. If this had gone to court, your pictures would do the talking for you.
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    101010-trees Not once will I ever use this in the real world... Hold my beer.
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    eighty_more_or_less. but also be prepared to not have your lease renewed....
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