I was living in a 3 bedroom house which was up for sale. The house had been
up for sale for over 4 years. The house which is called "107" (that is the address) was a
large home in decent shape. As with all older homes it has some problems (inefficent
heating, a squirrel named "FRED" who lived in the walls etc...) but that is to be expected.
All in all it was a comfortable place to set up residency. The landlord had a tendencey to
very annoying at times but b/c it was such a good deal it was dueable. I have been a
month-to-month tenant (meaning no lease). In the unlikely circumstance that the house
was to be sold, the Landlord gave me the option of moving next door to "109"
(future Crackhouse), which was a 2 apartment house owned by my landlord. I pay
my rent before the 1st of each month.
The date was April 17, 2001 Tuesday Night. The Landlord comes over with 2 members
of her family. The landlord states, "The house has been sold you need to move all of
your stuff out by Friday (April 20th). Now, previously I had been informed of my option to move
to the apartment next door. I have never seen this apartment but I was like okay with it because
I was not trying to stand in the way of my landlord selling the property. Since the
Landlord came over tuesday night (9:30pm), I figured I would take Thursday and Friday off to
move my stuff in. A little inconvenience but since I was given a place to stay an it is
right next door then, "Okay." I did have a problem with the fact that I had paid
my rent for 107 on at the end of march for the month of April. I was told that
a compensation could be arranged in regards to May's rent (a discount). That sounded
reasonable so I went along with it.
On Wednesday, I arrived home after takeing care of my daily routine (work etc...).
I figured I could start moving small things next door to 109 now. Also, I had never
viewed the apartment, so this would be a good time to come up with ideas about where
I would like to put things. The landlord's husband showed up around 7pm to give me the
keys to the apartment (109) and take me on a tour of the place.
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Going through the hallway to the living room
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No we take a look down at the floor
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Now, you may be saying that the place is not that bad. Keep in mind these pictures
were taken with a disposable camera and do not include things such as SMELL. I took a
pic of the walls which were yellow but they did not come out well enough to see. I should
have used a better camera.
After viewing the apartment with the landlord's husband my first words out of my mouth
were, "The place looks like a crack house!! Are you gonna fix it up?" The husband said
that the apartment would be fixed up but not right away. Next, he had the audacity
to say, "Well, if you don't like if you don't have to live there!" I was distraut.
Basically what was happening is that they wanted me to move out on hardly any notice and if
I don't like where they have for me to live to h*ll with me live on the street. I told them
I would not be moving anything over right now I will do it tomorrow (thursday). On thursday,
I moved things over to Crackhouse "109" but, I only moved things that didnt' belong to me
officially, they were either an old roomates or things that were in the house (when a house gets
sold everything needs to be removed.) So, I took the carpets, that were in the house an use them
to cover up the nasty floor (pic above). Well, when the landlord came over later that afternoon,
I was told that the rugs had to be put back. The reasoning being is that the floor's in the
crackhouse were not suitable for carpets yet. The landlord then explained to me that
b/c there had been water damage in the apartment above mine in the crackhouse carpeting
could not be placed on the warpped wooden floors. The landlord wanted to wait until after the
next rainstorm to make sure the patch's that had been made hold up. I said to
my landlord, "LET ME CLARIFY THIS: The only way to find out if the roof above me fixed,
is for it to rain. What happen's if it is not fixed? I am suppose to move all my stuff
in by tommorrow (keep in mind it is thrusday) and if it rains, and the roof is
not fixed water damage occurs, my stuff gets wrecked I have to live with that??"
My landlord answer was, "Ohh, we think the patches will prevent this from happening again."
But, if they were so sure why wouldn't I be allowed to put carpeting down. See my point.
The first thing I do is try to find out what my rights are. I look up what a
tenant's right are for a month-to-month tenancy. I use the The New York State Real Property Law.
Pay close attention to Section 228 and 232b of article 7 on the link. It states that
a 30 day written notice to the tenant is required from the landlord in order for the
tenant to find acceptable housing. This notice was never given. When I informed my
landlord of the information she had a legal notice from her attorney delivered to me.
Saying this info was given to me. I decided to come to an agreement with the landlord,
saying I will never sleep at the crackhouse but I will leave some of my things there.
I will not be charged any rent b/c I said I would move my things out rather
than prevent her house from being sold. (Note: All of my things are placed in a room which is
untouched by damage. So, I have left 107 officially to allow the sale of the house.
I would have won in court but decided I didn't want to give the attorney $350
to prove that she was a slum lord. Wouldn't you know that the Landlord next tried to
charge me NIMO $127 (electricty, heat and hot water) for the crackhouse where I have never stayed.
I was like are you kidding me. I move out to be a nice person (to a
crackhouse no less)and then you try to charge me utilities for a place I have
never even spent an evening? I was like, "I am not paying Sh*T! That place is
disgusting!!" The comment I get from a nosey family member is, "How do you
know what a crack house looks like?" Perhaps I should have stayed in 107 and payed
the $350...I am unsure...maybe it would have been worth it to make the
landlord suffer. But, I selected a different path...was it the right or wrong one...you
tell me???