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Terrible living situation

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Terrible living situation

Postby georgegrant » Sun Dec 01, 2019 7:29 am

I am brand new to this forum.
I wanted to seek some advice on my situation.
I am a stay at home father with a three year old daughter in Brooklyn NY.
My wife works six days a week and we just moved into an apt with a ton of issues that were not made available to us prior to our move.
We do not have money to move out, but for our health and sanity we must move out.
We have decided to withhold rent and use that to move because the conditions are so terrible.
I know its not right to withhold rent, but no one including the management company or the realtor was honest about this apt.
If anyone said there would be construction six days a week, we would not have moved here, let alone all the other issues you can read below.
Not paying rent is going to ruin our credit but what choice do we have ?
We rent but there are tenants who also own their apt's as well.
Every tenant i have spoken with is desperately trying to move out or break their lease, not a single person has anything good to say about this building.
I found out that this apt hadn't been rented in over eight months, now i know why...

Here is a list-

1-Major construction going on in the building inside and out.
The constant drilling and banging of the construction crew six days a week has been absolutely relentless from 8am to 5pm.
Our three year old daughter can't stay asleep during her daily nap with this level of noise.
2-We can't open our windows because of the level of dust and debris that comes into our home.
The construction guys are wearing masks so they don’t breathe this in but we are breathing this in on a daily basis.
3-The heat is on 100 degrees every single day weather it is cold or not outside, there isn't a shut off valve for me to turn off the heat and there isn’t a single thermostat in this entire building to regulate the heat which is a waste of resources,
so opening the windows is a must, but then the apartment is filled with brick dust which is unhealthy.
There are many other issues that come with living here as well, such as
4-people drinking and smoking marijuana in front of the building which is right by our windows on the ground floor and comes right into our home and stinks up the entire apartment for hours.
There is a guy who is obviously on heroin and talks about waiting for his drug dealer to come see him.
This happens during the day and at night, every single night.
They talk until 3am and are a nuisance, my wife wakes up for work at 6am.
5-There is also people that smoke cigarettes outside my window on their cell phones lol
i can't win, now i have cigarette smoke coming into my home along with loud conversations ?
My daughter , my wife and i can not sleep because of these people.
Ive kindly asked them to please not hang out in front of our home and they respectfully say ok only to come back the next night.
6-I suffer from severe sleep apnea which is documented by my doctor, I have a Cpap machine that I have to wear to help me breathe at night.
So I have a hard time sleeping as it is, but when drug addicts are out in front of our window, no one can sleep at all.
I have a young child that needs her rest and none of us are sleeping because of this.
7-We have water bugs and roaches in the apartment, so much so that you can smell their oily awful presence in the kitchen.
Yes the exterminator has come but it does nothing.
I have to cook all of our meals because we can not afford to eat out, but with the insect problem it makes doing so very difficult,
How can I cook Christmas dinner and invite people to our home like this ?
We have only been here since Oct 1st and it is a nightmare.
There is also mice in the apt, i have found mouse droppings all over my kitchen.
8-None of us can take a normal shower, the water constantly gets ice cold or boiling hot all on its own without us touching it.
9- constant noise in the hallway which echoes through the entire first floor, kids crying, dogs barking, slamming of doors, people are incredibly selfish.
I am a stay at home father, my duty is to take care of my daughter but i am having a lot of anxiety because of everything i have mentioned.
Without sleep i can not function properly, without opening a window we can not breathe in this hot apartment.
I realize that the construction must go on, but the people hanging outside our window, roaches, mice and the heat have to stop.
I have videos that will show you the decimal level of construction in this house on a daily basis.
I have had apartments all over NY and this is the absolute worst.
Lastly, i have sent an email mentioning all of what we are going through and theres been no response.
georgegrant
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2019 7:06 am

Re: Terrible living situation

Postby TenantNet » Sun Dec 01, 2019 12:52 pm

You may be new to forums in general, but please research the web site (Most of your questions can be answered there), read the Forum Rules (link above), and please consider brevity.

Seriously, the first 12 lines are not needed. Apnea, CPAP and XMAS dinner ... those have nothing to do with your tenancy or LL.

People read these threads to research and understand their own situation, so brevity helps them, and it helps you organize your thoughts. Some of your issues have nothing to do with the landlord, like drug users outside your building. For all outside issues, what can we say except, call the police, your community board and elected officials. Start a block association. But you knew all that, right?

Have you notified the landlord? Have you called 311 for an inspection? For bugs and mice, have you done anything to get rid of them? For bugs, the best thing is to make the place really really clean; don't leave out food. You could put out roach traps, boric acid and other methods of control, but in the end you need to have a clean place (also poisons are not good for dogs, cats or young kids).

Plug holes (with steel wool) in the walls. Just Google "how to get rid of mice")
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Re: Terrible living situation

Postby georgegrant » Sun Dec 01, 2019 1:10 pm

Yes the landlord has been told, yes i have put out traps and steel wool, and i still have roaches and mice.
And because i have a child i have to be careful what i use.
but i think your missing the point ?
I wanted to include everything, that's my choice and my right.
We don't leave food out the place is as clean as can be.
This place is inhabitable.
The people that hang out in front of our apt live in my building, this is the landlords responsibility not mine.
This is a bad situation and i am not paying rent and staying here with my family period.
georgegrant
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2019 7:06 am

Re: Terrible living situation

Postby TenantNet » Sun Dec 01, 2019 1:23 pm

Your choice and right? That doesn't help get you a reply. This is a forum for landlord-tenant issues. Noise on the street is not your landlord's responsibility (whether or not they live in your building), and seriously, not a focus of this forum. People have a right to be on the sidewalk.

As for rent, when you withhold it, you are likely to be taken to court, either for eviction or to recover what the LL will claim is owed. You can assert defenses. But be careful to document defenses, and choose those that the court will consider. Don't put every annoyance on that list.

Research the forum and the website on how to withhold rent and prepare a court defense.
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Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
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Re: Terrible living situation

Postby georgegrant » Sun Dec 01, 2019 2:32 pm

Putting the noise on the street aside, all the other issues i have mentioned are valid or at least valid to me.
See how you like it if people were talking right by your bedroom when you have to work in the morning, too many rules on these forums.
I was hoping someone would chime in that had a similar situation, oh well.
georgegrant
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2019 7:06 am

Re: Terrible living situation

Postby TenantNet » Sun Dec 01, 2019 3:23 pm

It's not a question whether you like it or not. It's a question of finding the right solution. And having done this for 35 years, and responded to thousands of similar questions, I can tell you you would be barking up the wrong tree to go after your landlord on the outside problems. Having said that, you can ask for the LLs help if your building has some sort of security apparatus, i.e., doorman or guard. Did you call your community board? Have you spoken to your local precinct or elected officials?

The solution for you is to stop griping and start researching. Look at the 50,000 posts on this forum. If you did, you would discover that the LL must have a permit from DOB to do any construction; it must be displayed. There must be a tenant protection plan posted, and in some cases, work areas need to be protected with plastic for dust.

You don't give us any details on the nature of the construction. If you are stabilized (you don't say), then be on the watch for a possible MCI. There's a lot you haven't told us.

Items 4-6 are not LL issues.

Water and heat... Have you made a complaint with 311? Have you filed for a HP Action in Housing Court?
The Tenant Network(tm) for Residential Tenants
Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
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