I live in a small apartment, in a four unit building, since I have lived here there have been many problems, major leaks, power problems, construction that never gets finished, etc...
The landlord never responds to these issues in anything approaching a timely manner.
recently i received a copy of a notice of disconnection from con ed, that was sent to all the tenants in the building because of my landlord's failure to pay his bills. this notice was followed by another stating that he still had not paid, or made any attempt to, even though he told me that he had. At this point I think con ed is going to turn off the power very soon, is this legal? the furnace has an electric starter, so this would prevent the building from being heated.
I talked to my landlord today, who claimed he was unaware of the situation, despite my having given him copies of any notices I received from con ed. He said it was the responsiblity of the management company he had recently hired - even though this is a problem that long predates that. I called the management "company" the person i talked to said that bills were not their department and they didn't know when I could reach the person that paid bills, even though I know this to be a company with precisely 2 employees. i called con ed who said that the tenants in the building could form an alliance to pay the electric bill and withhold that amount from rent, the bill, however is in excess of 3000 dollars, and this seems out of the question?
In addition to this, I know that the my apartment is an illegal conversion, a building inspector verified this, but it hasn't gone any further than that. - should i pursue it, I'd like an excuse for my lease to be void.
Anybody have any advice on what I should do?
Thanks a lot