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Landlord shows up at night -- proper response?

Rights for non-regulated tenants

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Landlord shows up at night -- proper response?

Postby Ray Vincent » Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:35 am

Last night at 8pm, while my wife was home alone, the landlord showed up with two or three other men to demand back rent. She called me and I directed him to deal through my lawyer. He left without other incident, but I'm concerned that he'll be back or try to enter the building to fiddle with the utilities (this is a one-family house in Brooklyn). The police told my wife she should have called 911. Do we need an order of protection? Or is the solution simply to call 911 the next time he shows up like this? The house is in foreclosure and he doesn't pay any utility bills or make repairs. Any suggestions would be appreciated; thanks.
Ray Vincent
 
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Postby TenantNet » Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:39 am

Is he the real landlord (owner) or is he a receiver appointed by the court or a representative of a bank?
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Postby Ray Vincent » Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:41 am

He's the real owner.
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Postby TenantNet » Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:12 pm

I would inform him by certified mail that he's not to come (at any time of day) for the rent. If he comes with others, that's intimidation. Is the rent normally on time, or was it late this once, or are you late normally? If the latter, he can take you to court (although you might not like that option either). Yes, if there's intimidation, call 911. I don't know if you can get an order of protection absent more serious behavior, but if he enters the unit, that's trespassing.

Even so, some LL's are still old world about things, or watch too many Sopranos episodes. So be cautious.
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Postby Ray Vincent » Wed Oct 13, 2010 4:43 pm

Thanks for responding.

In fact, I [u]have[/u] withheld rent for several months because, since the beginning of the year I was trying to get him to repair a leak in the roof of the house and finally, during the summer, had to take him to court over it; the city wound up doing the repairs. My lease expired at the end of August, but he has made no attempt to evict me. The house is in foreclosure, and he makes no gas, electric, or water payments (his account, not mine; I've had to make the payments to avoid turnoff of services). I don't know what that does for me (if anything), but that's the situation. Thanks again.
Ray Vincent
 
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Postby TenantNet » Wed Oct 13, 2010 5:02 pm

If you haven't read this already, see http://tenant.net/Rights/Utility/util-toc.html

Understand the document is from 1995 so parts may be outdated.
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Postby Ray Vincent » Thu Oct 14, 2010 6:55 pm

I'll check it out; and again, thank you for your time and interest.
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