Hello all. I am a month-to-month tenant on 4th avenue in brooklyn. I have lived in this apartment for about 2 1/2 years and love everything about the place except for one thing - The roof leaks sometimes. It has only happened a handful of times since I've lived here, but with the rain of the last 24 hours, there are now 4 individual leaks, one of them requiring that pots be put under it to catch the water falling down... Needless to say I am concerned about possible structural damage to the building, not to mention my stuff getting wet, etc. I also have asmtha and am concerned about the walls getting moldy.
The building is old, most likely pre-war. The landlord is a WW2 vet and is excentric to say the least. In the past when the roof has leaked, I tell his handyman to fix it and he goes up to the roof and slaps some tar on it and the leak stops. But I have now lived here long enough to notice that the leaks keep re-occuring in the same places over and over...
As I am month-to-month, I would like to avoid getting into a confrontational/antagonistic situation with my landlord whereby he may try and kick me out or raise the rent (its high enuff already, thank you very much). The membrane roof is old, and from what I understand would be excessively expensive to replace wholesale. I also know from people downstairs that the roof has been leaking for years, and given what I know about my landlord I am highly doubtful that he will simply spend the tens of thousands of dollars which would be required to fix the roof properly. What I wanted to know is this:
1) What are my options with regard to the repair. I am generally pretty handy (built furniture, dont mind getting dirty, etc) and want to know what, short of replacing the roof but further than slapping tar on the holes, can be done to stop the leaks and
2) What are my rights as a tenant with regard to getting the landlord to pay for whatever expenses are incurred? I am flexible and would like to do anything possible to avoid a protracted fight or a situation where I must go to court or withhold rent, etc
Basically I am looking for ideas & suggestions, and info as to my rights as a tenant as far as how responsible he is for fixing the leaks... Thanks for any advice ppl can provide!