Landlord will not repair windows

[moynihan1129]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

I am on a year lease from June 08 - July 09. The landlord had promised to make all necessary repairs before I moved in which I thought would include the windows since I brought them up in the original walkthrough. They were not. If it wasn't for the windows, this would easily be one of the nicest apartments in town. This house is well over 100 years old with original windows. There are 10 in total and they are very large and therefore would have to be custom. All but 2 are cracked. He has repaired the cracks with packaging tape. Some of them are missing small sections of glass...also repaired with packaging tape. Several are missing storm windows. Since the house is old, several of the windows don't fit the openeings well anymore. In fact, in the bedroom, there is a board that he (landlord) nailed up on the inside of the window sill to make the sill larger to prevent the window from falling in the apartment because the opening is almost an inch bigger than the window. He said this was fine when I asked him about it! I should not have to feel the wind pick up inside my apartment when it does outside!! I have put plastic on the windows, however, when it is windy out it blows off the inside. I have left him voicemails that get unanswered for months now and emails that go unresponded to. Can I write a letter saying I wish to break my lease due to his failure to meet his obligations to provide a reasonably weathertight property or do I need to get code involved before I can use it to break the lease?

 

[johnd]

Please post the exact verbiage from the lease that guarantees a "reasonably weathertight property."

Firstly, most codes do not require tight windows, but they must keep the rain (and critters) out.

Secondly, window wraps are cheap...like a buck a window. You may want to invest your time and money in that venture to make it more comfortable, and to save on heat.

Thirdly, generally, drafty is ok provided that a 67' temperature (heat) can be maintained in the center of each room. I do not know the exact code for NY, but will be surprised if it deviates far from this.

 

[FarmerJ]

Call your city housing inspections desk !

 

[ecmst12]

I'm pretty sure that cracked and missing glass is a code violation; cracked glass is a serious safety hazard! You will have to get the code inspector involved since obviously your LL is not going to take care of things otherwise.

I am sure that if this was just a matter of spending a couple of dollars on replacement glass, it would have been done; this is an old building and the windows are not standard size or thickness; the sills and casings are probably half rotting and in need of replacement. It's a big expensive job, but if LL wasn't prepared to put money into the building to make it habitable, he shouldn't have tried to rent it.

 

[Hot Topic]

This is another good example of why tenants should be extremely careful about accepting a landlord's promises that after they rent the apartment, he'll fix A, B, C or D.

Send a letter to the building inspector registered mail, return receipt requested telling him or her everything you've told us. Include dated pictures of as much of the windows as you can, plus copies of the emails you've sent the landlord.

 

[moynihan1129]

This is another good example of why tenants should be extremely careful about accepting a landlord's promises that after they rent the apartment, he'll fix A, B, C or D.

Send a letter to the building inspector registered mail, return receipt requested telling him or her everything you've told us. Include dated pictures of as much of the windows as you can, plus copies of the emails you've sent the landlord.

That is exactly what I am going to do. I signed up for "readnotification.com" which basically tracks an email and will tell me when he received it, how many times it has been open, etc. so I will have proof that he has in fact received the emails. As far as what someone else mentioned about quoting the lease where it says "reasonably weather tight," ....this was not from the lease. Rather, it is from the local building code of hability for real estate rental properties. In regards to maintaining a 67 deg temp in the middle of the room...it doesnt happen. With the thermostat set at 70 it is usually around 65.

 

[BL]

Depending on the location in NY , there may be local codes for min. temp. during the heating season .

Where I live it's 68 % all the time .

That should be maintained in every room .

However , I have lived in an old brick building w/ Apts. , where the windows and around the windows were drafty .

The Building inspector was there and never wrote it up .

Although this particular inspector was Iffy , if you know what I mean , and I've told him so .

He was the same one on another property I rented . It wasn't until a good insp. came out , violations were written up . The LL's had to sell the place .

If you don't get satisfaction with the individual inspector , contact the code enforcement inspection director for your area . Then it may do no good .

I've had to resort to masking tape , or masking tape and plastic .

The last year I was there it was cold because the LL turned down the heat to save rising fuel cost , then upped the rent besides .

Good luck .

Hope you get a professional inspector willing to do their job .

 

[ecmst12]

NOT EMAIL. SNAIL MAIL, certified mail with return receipt requested. If you want to be able to get out of your lease if the housing dept is unable to get him to fix the problem, you need to do everything by the book.

 

[HomeGuru]

NOT EMAIL. SNAIL MAIL, certified mail with return receipt requested. If you want to be able to get out of your lease if the housing dept is unable to get him to fix the problem, you need to do everything by the book.

**A: yes by the book, and in this case the book is the NY Landlord Tenant Law.