New Landlord Making Major Renovations...

[tcwest]

...to all the units in our development. It's now Section 8 housing, apparently, as I've had to submit paperwork from my employers to avoid losing the apartment we've had for years. Here's the trouble.
The new landlord is making major renovations to all units. Initially, the flyers that came out said that my family would be put up in an already-finished apartment when the contractors came in to do all the interior work. That plan fell by the wayside, and was changed to "You can't be there from 8am-5pm...and there won't be any power or water to the apartment." We were still trying to get our minds wrapped around that concept when, yesterday, I came home from my job (Graveyard shift) to find that the contractors were working on the outside of the house, with no prior notice at all. They were tearing the roofing shingles and siding off, and the cacophony was such that there was no way for me to sleep...and I'm in a very safety sensitive job that requires me to be on my toes.
I went down to the rental office with the obvious complaint. I was told that there weren't any arrangements for those working at night, and that there wouldn't be.
Shouldn't I be entitled to some kind of alternative housing in the interim, seeing as to how the rent is all paid up...or is it legal for them to just come in and do what they're doing, regardless of the circumstances?

[Anna]

Have you spoken to your Section 8 administrator?

What county or town is this ?

Is there a T-clinc nearby ? : check http://lawhelp.org/ny/

[tcwest]

The county is Orange; the town, Middletown. The Section 8 status...I'm still not clear on what that is, exactly. I just pay the rent on time, and stick my head in the sand, you know?
It's nice, warm, comfortable sand, too. Sadly, I have to look around now and find out what my rights are. All I wanted to do was go on living here, raising my five kids and minding my own business.
Somehow, overnight...I lost my ability to do that.
Two days ago, the admin said, as a way of "making it up to me", that she'd tell the contractors to hold off on the new window installation until the arranged construction schedule kicked in. Guess what? They did all the windows in here yesterday, and my only saving grace was that it's a Friday, and I don't go back to work until Sunday night.
I noticed too that they began posting backdated notices (with a great number of my complaints specifically addressed) on all our doors.

[Anna]

http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/general/pub ... issec8.htm

http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/hcv/index.cfm