Letters to the Editor

Tenants Need to be More Aggressive

To the Editor:

In fighting the landlords, taking the offense may be the best defense. We should not take a simply “reactive” stand, i.e., taking action only after an initiative of the landlords. We should take the offensive against them, regain the initiative. Find whatever means are possible to make aggressive legal maneuvers against the landlords as a class, such as a constant accounting of the landlords’ personnel records and business interests.

Take a method from the FBI. Find the landlords who are the source of tenants’ worst problems and build files on them. Use private investigators to get anything you can on these landlords to discredit them or put them in prison. Target abusive landlords and get them by any legal means necessary.

My second point concerns the landlord of the Manhattan building where two tenants disappeared. The circumstances surrounding the case and the history and associations of this landlord suggest that he is responsible for their disappearance. It’s interesting that this same landlord had an employee who also disappeared several years ago after a dispute.

Tenants’ associations should keep this case in the public eye until the truth is known.

Frank J. Baxter Flushing

Correction

“MBR Update: Still Unresolved” in the January 1998 Tenant/Inquilino contained a reference to “the Maximum Collectible Rent in effect prior to September 12, 1996.” That was a typographical error. It should have read “September 12, 1997.”

With the MBR increase for 1996-97 still in litigation, Met Council recommends that rent-controlled tenants save and put aside enough money to cover whatever amount the courts set as the final increase allowed.

New Rules In Housing Court!
New Rent Laws!
Find Out How They Affect You!
Learn About Your Rights!

Hudson Guild Chelsea Housing Group HOUSING FORUM Tuesday, Feb. 17 6:30 PM The Hudson Guild 441 West 26th St. (between 9th and 10th Avenues)

Speakers will include Dennis Boyd of the Legal Aid Society, Met Council chair Scott Sommer, and Jamaal Speede, Manhattan coordinator of the City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court.

For more information, call (212) 760-9800