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Horrible Lease Broken- Now Being Sued. Please Help

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gauzemode

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NEW YORK


Me and my roommates moved into what we thought was a beautiful apartment in Brooklyn on September 1, 2008. The landlords lived in the building. At first things were just strange. Our landlord's husband/boyfriend was also like the maintenance guy and he was regularly drunk. He wanted us to at all times call him "Captain" and that the apartment building was his "battleship." He seemed to be stuck in this navy life (which in reality took up 2 years of his life.)

FIRST- We had a friend staying with us for three days one week because she was in between places. She literally only had one bag with her. Because we had an extra room, we decided to see if it would be possible to add her to the lease. So we called the landlords (because there was a clause about no subleasing) to ask what they thought of the situation. They then proceeded to tell us that hey could evict us for breaking the sublease clause. We were no subleasing.. we clarified it to them and then they said that if we wanted her to move in, we would have to add $700 to our lease monthly!! We ended it. They also repremanded us for not taking her to the front door from our 4th floor apartment everytime she entered and left the premises.

SECOND- They harrassed us for small things such as hammering a small nail into the wall at 8pm. And again for not bring guests out.

THIRD- They refused to let us get our internet service because they said Time Warner guys cut the cables of their rivals and break the windows! Captain actually slammed the door in one cable guys face. That guy told me that he wouldnt come again bc he has dealt with him before.

FOURTH- I had a new mattress delivered and my boyfriend escorted the guys in. I then hear Captain yelling at me. I go downstairs to find one mattress delivery guy saying he isn't being allowed to leave the premises. The landlord won't let him. Captain goes on to yell about how he must be informed when furniture is delivered.

FIFTH- I met my neighbor outside. He told that he had moved in a month before us and had similar problems. His roommate decided to move out and left him so he was forced to try to find someone to move in. One prospective roommate was a good friend of his and had even met the landlords. She stayed over one night and he gave her his keys so she could lock up the apartment on her way out. The landlord saw her and took the keys away from her. My neighbor was standing outside that same night at 9pm trying to ring the landlords bell. They were home, but they were not answering. Two hours later he received his keys and a long talk with the landlord. He also started to notice that the landlord was entering his apartment when he wasn't there. In on instance, he actually heard Captain ask his wife for the keys to his apartment!! After this he decided to move out as well. The landlords wanted him to pay 4 months rent in order to move out. He agreed to pay one month and then negotiate afterwards. Nothing was signed. He is now being sued for $17,000.

SIXTH- We were receiving inadequate heat. Two bedrooms had no heat at all. The living room and the other bedroom had cracks in the windows so large (2in) that our curtains would actually rustle from the wind. We complained to them and they said for us to get thicker DRAPES and space heaters because they were giving us the required level of heat. They did nothing! We filed reports with HPD numerous times. We missed the inspector. Also we had bedbugs (as did our neighbor). We told the landlords we'd be happy to pay for our apartment to get exterminated if they would exterminate the rest of the building. If not, the bugs would be back into our place in a matter of months. They again did nothing, saying that their exterminator had had a heart attack and so could not perform.

SEVENTH- November 4, 2008. We decided to withhold our rent because of lack of services. That morning, we awoke to NO GAS, NO ELECTRICITY (we pay both ourselves. The landlord only covers heat and hot water) and no heat. We called her and she came up and the first thing she told us was "I thought you were calling about the rent money!" I explained to her our problem and she started screaming at us. We were silent. She said we could move out and keep our money. Captain then said that he would fix the problems by the end of the day and we should have the money ready tonight. We agreed. We came home that night to find NOTHING fixed. We told the landlord that we would take up her offer and leave. She said the offer was not on the table any longer. I sent her a certified letter the next day saying we would be out of her apartment by November 15.

EIGHTH- The landlord called mine and one of the my roommates work and spoke to our managers. She said that we had bedbugs running through our hair and that we would not allow them to come in to fix the problem. We both in restaurants. She even threatened to call a health code violation if we were allowed to work still. My roommate missed one work day because of this. Both our managers thought it was rediculous.

NINETH- November 7. We continued to have no electricity on this morning and the previous night. We called the cops. After speaking with them on the street for 10 mins, we saw Captain outside. Him and his wife began yelling at the cops. We led the cops upstairs and amazingly our electricity was back on.


TENTH- November 14. We moved out. The movers called us an hour after we were finished moving saying that the landlords had called their company saying that there was an IKEA delivery truck waiting outside and to please give them our new address so we could have our IKEA furniture. We ordered no such furniture. The movers refused to his them our information. Why would they not have called their tenants seeing as though they have our cells.



ENDING- We are now being taken to small claims court for $5000. We have 5 witnesses (our friend, our father, our managers, our previous neighbors and a written statement from the mover). We also have HPD records from the previous tenant in our apartment who also complained against no heat/hot water, pictures of the apartment and the broken windows, a police report from them calling our work, and a record of a previous small claims court against a tenant they had 10 years ago.)

So my questions:
1) Because each of us (3 roommates) received separate summons for $5000, does this mean that we are individually being sued for breaking the lease or is it joint?? We also received papers from Peoples Court which involved all three of our names.

2)Do we have a legitimate case to win??

3) ANY ADVICE AT ALL IS GREATLY APPRECIATED. We are young college students and we feel like they are trying to take advantage of us.
 


Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
You are being sued for breaking your lease (your landlords attempted to get your new address from the movers so they'd have this to serve you).

Most of your claims (having to call the super Captain, etc.) will be considered nonsense in a court of law.

Your biggest argument is the claim that you had inadequate heat and the fact that the landlord may have tampered with your gas and electricity. This can be argued as retaliation for withholding your rent (which you MAY have been able to do if you notified the landlords IN WRITING first that this was your intention). In addition, you have pictures of the broken windows in the apartment. It is hoped that your contact with your landlords was in writing for added documentation.

Where several tenants/roommates are involved, all will be added to the lawsuit (since you all broke the lease at the same time) with the idea that if a judgement is against you, the "financial chips" will fall as they may.

Gail
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
You withheld rent without following proper procedures, and broke your lease. They cut off your power illegally and performed a 'self help eviction' because you did not pay your rent. Sounds like a wash to me. It would be worth paying a lawyer a couple hundred to send a nasty letter threatening a counter suit for illegal eviction if they don't drop the suit. If they don't drop it, obviously it will cost more to actually FILE the counter suit and represent you in court, but NY is VERY tenant friendly and would not look kindly on them shutting off your power and heat illegally.
 

gauzemode

Junior Member
Reply

So I realize we messed up without giving them a written notice of withholding rent.

Also- we received the summons for court before we actually moved out (on Thursday November 13- we moved on Friday November 14). So them calling the movers to find our address was really just so they would know where we were. We attempted to get a restraining order on them because we were afraid but the court said we would need actual physical evidence.

All in all, I feel like the services being cut off (even if for retaliation for withholding rent) AND the fact that they actually called our works to harass us and defame our characters AND that our neighbor dealt with the same stuff MUST prove to the court that we felt unsafe and would excuse us for leaving so quickly.

Also- when I went to the court house for advice they said we were not allowed to file a countersuit! So I'm unsure of what to do.

Any more advice?
 
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HomeGuru

Senior Member
So I realize we messed up without giving them a written notice of withholding rent.

Also- we received the summons for court before we actually moved out (on Thursday November 13- we moved on Friday November 14). So them calling the movers to find our address was really just so they would know where we were. We attempted to get a restraining order on them because we were afraid but the court said we would need actual physical evidence.

All in all, I feel like the services being cut off (even if for retaliation for withholding rent) AND the fact that they actually called our works to harass us and defame our characters AND that our neighbor dealt with the same stuff MUST prove to the court that we felt unsafe and would excuse us for leaving so quickly.

Also- when I went to the court house for advice they said we were not allowed to file a countersuit! So I'm unsure of what to do.

Any more advice?


**A: here is my advice- actually read the NY Landlord Tenant law. You may learn a thing or two.
 

gauzemode

Junior Member
thank you. I have read the nyc landlord tenant book, however, most of that applies to what we should have done. This doesn't help me in trying to find some other ways now that I didn't follow that book. I need advice for the present, not about what I did wrong. I realize our faults now.

Mainly I am looking to see if we have a case based on harassment and no heat etc.

Thanks again.
 

Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
No one here can tell you which way the judge will decide.

Frankly, I've found that most people who present (or defend) lawsuits tend to throw far too much "evidence" at a judge (who has heard it all anyway). They're so bound and determined to prove that the other fellow in the courtroom is the bad guy that they trip all over themselves defending their actions.

Whether your landlord calling your work and telling them you have bedbugs in your hair is harassment isn't the issue at hand. The issue at hand is whether you were justified in breaking your lease.

Your focus should be on the lack of heat forcing you to leave. You can't even prove that your landlord turn the gas and the electricity off. What happened with the neighbor and the fact they took a tenant to Small Claims a decade ago plays no role in any of this.

Gail
 

BL

Senior Member
thank you. I have read the nyc landlord tenant book, however, most of that applies to what we should have done. This doesn't help me in trying to find some other ways now that I didn't follow that book. I need advice for the present, not about what I did wrong. I realize our faults now.

Mainly I am looking to see if we have a case based on harassment and no heat etc.

Thanks again.
You have to have proof of retaliation , or be able to convince the Judge it was retaliatory , that the LL's excuse for the utilities being off won't hold up .

That is was the utilities cut off by the LL and on purpose ?

If it were a circuit switch or fuse that could have been promptly dealt with upon notice there were no elect. or heat ?

The harassment .

You were advised what to do in the other thread .

If it were true harassment , why didn't you file a police report ?

The court will want to know , and see the proof .

You would have to show issues were so bad , you were " constructively evicted "
 
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HomeGuru

Senior Member
thank you. I have read the nyc landlord tenant book, however, most of that applies to what we should have done. This doesn't help me in trying to find some other ways now that I didn't follow that book. I need advice for the present, not about what I did wrong. I realize our faults now.

Mainly I am looking to see if we have a case based on harassment and no heat etc.

Thanks again.
**A: thank you. Did you read the part about utilities?
 

gauzemode

Junior Member
1- We did file one police report based on the phone calls at our work. Like I said, my roommate was forced to miss a day of work while her work figured everything out. We called the cops on numerous occasions about them yelling at us or when we were scared of them but the cops said they couldn't technically file a report. Also the cops came when our electricity was turned off, and the cops even said that based on how the landlord was acting, it seemed like she did something. She wouldn't let them see the electrical box. But when they came up to our 4th floor apartment, our electricity was back on. They again couldn't file a report.

2- I don't have actual proof of them turning off the electricity. I do have the date and times written down and a call to the electric company who said they did not turn anything off. But I find it a big coincidence that the we had perfect electricity for two months until the day we said we were withholding rent, the next time was the day they received our letter of intent on breaking our lease and last time (when the cops came) was the next day. The day after that they called our work. And for the last week we had no electrical problems.

3- We have records dating back years in which the previous tenant had the same heat/hot water problems. Obviously it's something they never intent to fix. I have complaints with HPD also (about 7) but no inspection unfortunetly. But I do have photos of windows with 2in cracks in them.

Thanks again for the advice! A lot of what yall said helped.
 

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