Tenant making false inadequate hot water reports

[garrett186]

What is the name of your state? New York, New York

My tenant is making false reports that I'm not providing him with enough hot water. Whenever a gov't inspector arrives to test the hot water, my tenant would always purge all the hot water from the boiler by running the tap. By the time the inspector arrives, he'd then stop the purging and of course, it would appear to the inspector as if there isn't enough hot water. This is a very deceitful tactic and I can't find a way around this in court. As far as the judge is concern, he believes in the tenant's story b/c of all the documentation from the inspector's misleading reports.

What can I do to prove my tenant is lying?

[FarmerJ]

Write to the inspector sending via registered mail and ask if he or she will come out at a time that only you know of because you believe the tenant is wasting the hot water on purpose in order to drive the temp down. Other wise consider installing a on demand hot water heating unit that heats water as it is drawn and stop using the boiler to make hot water. BTW how many units are served by this hot water heating system ? and last Is the tenant on a fixed term lease that says the hot water is included ? and when does this lease expire. I used to have tenants who complained about the heating in my building , so theres other things you can do but I wont post about those just yet.

[garrett186]

Originally Posted by FarmerJ

Write to the inspector sending via registered mail and ask if he or she will come out at a time that only you know of because you believe the tenant is wasting the hot water on purpose in order to drive the temp down. Other wise consider installing a on demand hot water heating unit that heats water as it is drawn and stop using the boiler to make hot water. BTW how many units are served by this hot water heating system ? and last Is the tenant on a fixed term lease that says the hot water is included ? and when does this lease expire. I used to have tenants who complained about the heating in my building , so theres other things you can do but I wont post about those just yet.

We've already been inspected several times. And besides, these tenants are deliberately purging hot water on a usual basis. They managed to succeed in fooling the inspector for 2-3 inspections now. (only one inspection worked in our favor but the tenants kept claiming hot-water violations and the judge kept favoring them) So, there doesn't seem to be a way around it. Telling the inspector that they've been wasting the water didn't work. The inspector will only take into account whatever was observed.

It's looking grim for us at court. The judge seems to be pro-tenant. And our lawyer isn't all that useful. Hot water is included on the lease, as it is required by law here in NYC to supply hot water to tenants. There's still about half a year until the lease expires.

I'm not sure what an "on demand hot water heating unit" is. Can you elaborate on that? We only have one boiler unit for hot water and one furnace-like heating unit for heating rooms.

Any more advice? The concern right now is in trying to prove on court that these tenants are faking hot-water violations in order to avoid paying rent. We're running low on money repairing things that were "broken", on a lawyer that isn't helpful, and other stuff. Our house is newly built, around 3-4 years old. Thus it doesn't make sense for fixtures to break off. But presenting this fact to the judge didn't help either. What can I do?

[FarmerJ]

you wrote > Our house is newly built, around 3-4 years old.< is this a single family home or a multi unit ? IF its a multi unit home is it town home style ( side by side ) or up/ down like older duplexes. a on demand hot water heater makes hot water when a faucet is opened , and keeps making it until its shut off, and only cost money to operate when a hot water faucet is opened, In europe they have used them for years, the idea is that you dont have to pay for heating water ahead of when you need it. , heres the first link I found when using google search engine . [url]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=on+demand+hot+water+heaters[/url] go check it out , and please tell me if this is a single family home or not. then I will tell you what you can legally do to prove the tenant is wasting water. Because if you can prove them to be wasting water you should be able to warn and evict them if it comes to it.

[garrett186]

Originally Posted by FarmerJ

you wrote > Our house is newly built, around 3-4 years old.< is this a single family home or a multi unit ? IF its a multi unit home is it town home style ( side by side ) or up/ down like older duplexes. a on demand hot water heater makes hot water when a faucet is opened , and keeps making it until its shut off, and only cost money to operate when a hot water faucet is opened, In europe they have used them for years, the idea is that you dont have to pay for heating water ahead of when you need it. , heres the first link I found when using google search engine . [url]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=on+demand+hot+water+heaters[/url] go check it out , and please tell me if this is a single family home or not. then I will tell you what you can legally do to prove the tenant is wasting water. Because if you can prove them to be wasting water you should be able to warn and evict them if it comes to it.

It's a 2 family house. 2 stories. 1st floor is the rental unit. owner takes the 2nd floor and basement. it's not an apt building. it's not a town house either. i'm a little confused by your terminology, but I'm guessing this is up/down.

about the hot water demand unit, with this installed, hot water can't be purged, right? and how much would it cost?

[FarmerJ]

Garrett its late now, if you want a idea of what they cost start calling your nearest LARGE lumberyard, hardware , etc store that is like Menards is here in midwest. Or some where like home depot or ?? lowes ? I tried to private message you and it looks like you have turned them off. The tankless / on demand hot water heating unit is just a start, Then theres submetering and some leg work you should do to learn where you can get average use information for your area.

[garrett186]

private messenging is on now. i'll take any advice you have.