NYC’s worst landlords failing to maintain safe conditions

A New York City woman has to go down one flight of stairs in order to access a toilet after her landlord removed her plumbing. The 72-year-old Bronx resident lives in what one New York public advocate called one of the worst buildings in New York City, as it received 525 citations for various city housing violations. When New York residents live in such squalor or the property owner is suspected of failing to maintain safe conditions for his or her tenants, that resident may have legal options at their disposal.

Surprisingly, the landlord of this particular building is not even considered the worst in the city. In fact, according to the Public Advocate’s list of the top 100 worst landlords in the city, he ranks a mere 38th. This year’s list includes violations from the Department of Building, as well as data pertaining to tax liens the Department of Finance has levied on properties, the Public Advocate’s Office said.

With the high value of real estate in the city, some landlords may attempt to oust rent-stabilized tenants by any means necessary to flip the apartment in order to charge a higher rent rate. Public Advocate Letitia James says some landlords either simply do not care about tenants or are just negligent when it comes time to address the sometimes deplorable conditions tenants live in. Those kinds of landlords care only about money, she said.

Premises liability may be established when landlords are suspected of failing to maintain safe conditions for the tenants of his or her property. Negligent maintenance of the property in question makes the owner liable for any and all injuries that may occur. When an individual is injured due to negligent maintenance of a property, the victim typically consults a New York personal injury attorney to assess the viability of his or her claim.

Source: dnainfo.com, “Living in Bronx’s Worst Building Means Having No Bathroom, Tenant Says“, Eddie Small, Oct. 13, 2016