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O/T … Advice re dealing with a dangerous lunatic

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O/T … Advice re dealing with a dangerous lunatic

Postby TheAlbinoAubergine » Sun Feb 22, 2015 9:26 pm

I’m in a rather difficult position where I am currently living and I would very much appreciate some constructive & helpful advice.

I recently returned to New York from Mexico (I’m not Hispanic, I’m an Anglo).

I live in New York City.

I rent a room in a private dwelling so I’m assuming it is neither rent stabilized nor controlled.

This dwelling is not a co-op or condo.

This is a 3 floor free standing house (i.e. : not a row house) located in Elmhurst in Queens and was almost certainly built before the 2nd World War.

There are 3 people living here.; i.e. :

• myself
• my landlady
• another roommate (in another bedroom).

I pay my rent month to month and did give my landlady a security deposit equivalent to 1 month’s rent when I moved in during early December of last year.

After living where I am currently situated for a little less than 3 months I’ve come to the ineluctable, inevitable and unavoidable conclusion that I’m living with both a harridan and a dangerous lunatic.

A harridan I can both work with and work around but a dangerous lunatic is another thing entirely.

Recently …

My landlady confronted me and told me that the other roommate had told her behind my back that :

• I’m planning on beating up the other roommate

• I’m planning on raping the other roommate

• I’m planning on murdering the other roommate

• I’ve stolen money from the other roommate’s purse

• I’ve taken other things from the other roommate’s purse

• I’ve been snooping around in the other roommate’s room when nobody else is home.

Although not one word of these accusations is true, my landlady has told me that I have to leave. She’s been fairly reasonable about this in that she’s given me until the end of March to find other accommodations.

But …

She’s also implied in the conversation I had with her about this very weird and extremely disturbing situation that she thinks I’ve been sexually harassing the other roommate.

This is simply NOT true.

In fact, NONE of the accusations the other roommate has made about me are true.

My landlady also accused me of :

“Pissing on the rugs”

in the bathroom that we all share. This is also not only utterly bizarre … It is also a complete fabrication.

Why would I do that ?

Since then, the situation has begun to escalate.

One Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago, when I was leaving the house, the other roommate was following me around yelling and screaming and chanting in what I took to be some weird foreign language in a very loud, hostile & angry tone. I didn’t engage with her but just left the house and went about my business outside.

When I got back, later that Sunday afternoon I went into the kitchen because I had been out shopping and wanted to put the food I’d bought into my designated areas in the refrigerator in the kitchen. As I came out of the dining room and into the hallway, I noticed that the other roommate was sitting on the bottom of the stairs to the 2nd floor & I couldn’t get by her.

At that point in time, I figure I had 3 options :

* go back into the dining room and wait a few minutes assuming that after a short interval of time she would be gone & I could go up the stairs to my room.

* wait in the hallway about 10 feet from her and wait for her to move.

• ask her to move.

I opted for option no 2; i.e. : waiting in the hallway for her to move.

Fortunately, my landlady saw what happened.

My landlady told the other roommate to move. When she didn’t move so my landlady told her to move a 2nd time. My landlady also picked up that she seemed to be very upset. So, my landlady asked her what was wrong.

At that point she jumped up and started yelling and screaming in a really loud, angry & hostile voice.

I went by her and went up to my room on the 3rd floor and shut my door.

In my opinion, it was a very good thing that my landlady saw 1 of her outbursts.

Early last Sunday afternoon as I was going down from the 3rd floor where my room is, the other roommate came out of her room. I couldn’t understand what she was saying but she was screaming in an incredibly loud, hostile and angry voice.

I did notice that she kept repeating over and over again the phrase :

“You sick bastard”.

I don’t know what she’s talking about.

Whenever I’m inadvertently around this person I immediately walk away and go back to my room. I make a point of NEVER being around her when there is nobody else in the house. I also try to avoid being around her when the landlady is also present in the house.

I figure :

"Out of sight, out of mind …”

When I came back later on that Sunday afternoon I started to realize that the roommate was in the kitchen when I opened the door to the dining room, which is between the kitchen and the hallway containing the stairs to the 2nd floor. The roommate came out of the kitchen and out through the dining room and into the hall. I had already closed the dining room door and was on my way upstairs to wait about an hour or so, assuming that she would be done with kitchen by them.

Again she started screaming at me in an incredibly loud, angry & hostile voice.

I couldn’t make out what she was saying but 1 phrase she kept repeating over & over again was :

“Look me in the eye”

The landlady was not around when either of these 2 incidents happened.

As I said, my policy is not to be around her and not to interact with the other roommate at all, especially if the landlady is not in the house. I had thought that if I just avoided being around this person then there would be no ongoing provocation induced by my presence and things would calm down.

Thus is clearly not the case.

This roommate’s behavior seems to be escalating.

Last Monday, things escalated even further.

A little after 9:00 in the morning I came back up the stairs after making some coffee in the kitchen.

As I was starting to go up the stairs to the 3rd floor where my room is located, my deranged roommate came out of her room yelling and screaming in a very loud, angry and hostile voice.

She also had a wad clothing in her hand and started waving it in my face.

I ignored her and continued up the stairs to my room.

She then started to follow me.

When realized she was following me, I said to her in a fairly loud and firm voice :

“I want you to stay away from me”

Fortunately she didn’t follow me up the stairs.

That afternoon, my deranged roommate was in the enclosed verandah doing something with the cats.

What I haven’t mentioned so far is that both my landlady and my deranged roommate are into animal rescue & the care of feral cats.

There are 5 bedrooms in the house. 3 of them are filled with cats.

There are cats in the dining room.

There are cats in my landlady’s office.

There are cats in the basement.

There are cats in the enclosed verandah.

There are cats in the garage out back behind the house.

There are cats in the back yard.

Sometimes there are cats in the front yard.

Our house is kind of like a Club Med for cats.

I asked both my landlady and my deranged roommate when I moved in early December about how many cats there were on the premises they were both very evasive. After asking them a couple of times they eventually admitted that there were :

“About 30 cats”

on the premises.

I don’t go into any of the closed off rooms where the cats are kept nor any other rooms that aren’t part o fthe common areas (kitchen, dning room, bathroom) but I strongly suspect that there are significantly more than 30 cats on the premises.

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m quite fond of cats and the cats in the dining room and the landlady’s office are quite fond of me. When I am cooking in the kitchen they always come into the kitchen and sit on the kitchen table to be stroked and patted by me.

But … I am beginning to wonder if there really is anything to all those rumors I’ve been hearing for years about …

“Crazy Cat Ladies”

Anyhow … Back to the Outside Enclosed Verandah.

The back door is securely locked and I don’t have the key. What’s more the gate to the fence in the backyard is also locked. This means that even if I could get out of the house from the back I would have to climb over a 4-foot fence.

So … The only way to get out of the house would be to be physically present on the verandah with my deranged roommate. Because my deranged roommate was in the outside verandah and that really is the only way outside the house and because I don’t want to be anywhere near her, I went back up to my room to wait for awhile, assuming that fairly shortly she would be out of the verandah.

After about 15 minutes or so I went back down again. But, unfortunately, she was still there. The problem is that I have errands to run that really can’t wait for her to move out of the verandah.

So I decided to enter the verandah even though she was still there.

Fortunately, she moved aside as I walked towards the door.

But, unfortunately, she also started screaming at me again in a very loud, hostile & angry voice in what I took to be some foreign language.

She actually started to follow me out of the house, yelling & screaming.

Fortunately, she didn’t follow me down the street.

As the title of Joel Salatin’s book sez :

Folks, This Ain't Normal : A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World

(ISBN : 978-0-892-96819-0)

This behavior isn’t normal.

In the meantime, before I leave I’m wondering what I can do to protect myself.

NOT 1 of the things this roommate has accused me of is, in fact, true.

It is now obvious to me that this person is seriously mentally deranged. Many years ago, I worked in a mental hospital and I’ve seen this behavior before. This behavior really looks to me like Late Onset Adult Paranoid Schizophrenia.

She has convinced herself and perhaps half persuaded my landlady that I have been going into her room when nobody else is in the house, and, presumably I have been rummaging around in her underwear drawer.

This simply is NOT true.

The fact that she persists in believing that I’m doing this is an example of what is called :

“Paranoid Ideation”,

which is 1 of the defining characteristics of paranoid schizophrenia.

What is especially worrisome is that this deranged person’s behavior seems to be both getting worse and escalating without any provocative behavior on my part.

I realized after this 2nd incident that I really have to go to the police and find out what is the best, most constructive, proactive and sensible way to deal with this problem

So late Sunday night I went to the local police precinct to find out what I can do about my situation.

They were not that helpful.

They told me I have to move.

Well, I already know this and I’m already looking for other accommodations but this will take time.

Since then, I have been to the police 2 more times. They are not very helpful at all.

The other thing that both perplexes me and worries me is that neither myself NOR my deranged roommate have locks on our doors.

I’m very worried that the deranged roommate might go into my room when I’m not around and destroy my computer equipment (I’m a software developer and when I moved in early December I told my landlady that I was :

“Looking for a quiet place where I could work undisturbed” ).

I’m also worried that she might go into my room when I’m not around and plant things there and then claim that I took them from her room.

2 of the cops I talked to did tell me that it was illegal to rent a room in a house without a lock on the room door. They also told me that I did not need my landlady’s consent to put a lock on my door. AND … Amazingly enough … I do NOT even have to give my landlady a key to my room.

Is all that true ?

So … My dilemma at the moment is whether I should focus on getting someone to put a lock on my door or focus on getting the hell out of here and find another place to live sans deranged roommates.

I know that putting a lock on my door without the landlady’s knowledge or consent is only going to make her even more angry and suspicious than she already is.

But, on the other hand … I don’t trust her.

I’m also beginning to think that my landlady is completely clueless.

If this deranged person was saying that I was snooping around in her room when nobody else was around then the sensible thing to do would have been to put a lock on the deranged roommate’s door. This might have calmed things down a bit or, at least taken away 1 of this deranged roommate’s reasons for being so hostile and angry with me. After all, I can hardly be entering and snooping around in her room when nobody else is in the house if she has a lock on her door.

My landlady has had over a month to do this and she has not done so.

Why did she not do this ?

As I said above, I know I have to leave and find somewhere else to live but I’m wondering what I can do to protect myself from serious legal and other problems while I’m still living here (and actively looking for another place to live).

When I think about this bizarre situation I’m in, I’m reminded of a line from David Mamet’s play “Oleanna” in which he sez :

Rape is the crime that men commit and most often get away with …

But …

It is also the crime that men are most often falsely accused of.”

I’m wondering if I need to see a lawyer just to find out what my real circumstances and rights in this situation are. The problem with doing so is that I have no income at the moment and I really cannot afford to pay for a lawyer (I do have some savings so I’m not in danger of becoming destitute in the near future).

Another thing that bothers me about this situation is that I’m actually very happy in the room I’m staying in BUT I really don’t like going into the other common areas of the house that I share with these 2 women because I feel both extremely unwelcome and very uncomfortable. 95 % of the time I’m in the house I stay in my room and avoid going into the common areas. If the other roommate is anywhere near me in any of the common areas of the house I immediately go back into my room and stay there for awhile until I think the :

“Coast might be clear”.

I’m so freaked out about the accusation of pissing on the rugs in the bathroom that I now piss into a plastic container in my room and dump the contents of that container into the toilet late at night when I think everybody else is fast asleep.

I only go into the kitchen to prepare food to eat when I think there is nobody else around in the house. I always eat in my room and never eat in either the kitchen or the dining room.

One thing that really bothers me about this whole situation is that my right to Due Process as alluded to and laid out in the 4th, 5th & 14th Amendments to the Constitution that we are all supposed to be living under in this country has been totally ignored and disregarded. I’ve just been summarily judged to be guilty of things that I haven’t done without any recourse or means to defend myself. And that has been done to me by a person that I’m pretty sure is deranged and very possibly a danger to both herself and other people.

I also don’t know how I can defend myself against things that I haven’t actually done.

Well … That’s it.

I’ve never been in a situation like this before and I would very much appreciate any helpful and constructive advice, observations or suggestions that anyone could offer.

Thank you very much in advance for your help and consideration.
TheAlbinoAubergine
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Astoria, Queens

Re: O/T … Advice re dealing with a dangerous lunatic

Postby TenantNet » Mon Feb 23, 2015 3:12 am

Can you shorten this by about 80%. Just stick to essential facts. I'm sorry, but I'm not up to reading a book, and most other readers here will not want to read all this.
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Re: O/T … Advice re dealing with a dangerous lunatic

Postby TheAlbinoAubergine » Mon Feb 23, 2015 4:49 pm

I’ve been told that my 1st post was way too long for most people to bother to read.

I tried to include all the information that I thought was relevant in order to avoid unnecessary questions.

Following herein is my 1st attempt to trim and condense my posting.

I’m in a rather difficult position where I am currently living and I would very much appreciate some constructive & helpful advice.

I recently returned to New York City from Mexico (I’m not Hispanic, I’m an Anglo).

I rent a room in a private dwelling that is 3 floor free standing house (i.e. : not a row house) located in Elmhurst in Queens and was almost certainly built before the 2nd World War so I’m assuming it is neither rent stabilized nor controlled.

This is not a co-op or condo.

There are 3 people living here.; i.e. :

• myself
• my landlady
• another roommate (in another bedroom).

I pay my rent month to month and did give my landlady a security deposit equivalent to 1 month’s rent when I moved in during early December of last year.

After living where I am currently situated for a little less than 3 months I’ve come to the ineluctable, inevitable and unavoidable conclusion that I’m living with a dangerous lunatic.

Recently, my landlady confronted me and told me that the other roommate had told her behind my back that :

• I’m planning on beating up the other roommate

• I’m planning on raping the other roommate

• I’m planning on murdering the other roommate

• I’ve stolen money from the other roommate’s purse

• I’ve taken other things from the other roommate’s purse

• I stole one of the other roommates towels from the bathroom.

• I’ve been snooping around in the other roommate’s room when nobody else is home.

Not one word of these accusations is true.

My landlady has told me that I have to leave. She’s given me until the end of March to find other accommodations.

She’s implied in the conversation I had with her about this very weird and extremely disturbing situation that she thinks I’ve been sexually harassing the other roommate.

This is simply NOT true.

NONE of the accusations the other roommate has made about me are true.

My landlady also accused me of :

“Pissing on the rugs”

in the bathroom that we all share. This is also not only utterly bizarre … It is also a complete fabrication.

Why would I do that ?

Since then, the situation has begun to escalate.

One Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago, when I was leaving the house, the other roommate was following me around yelling and screaming and chanting in what I took to be some weird foreign language in a very loud, hostile & angry tone. I didn’t engage with her but just left the house and went about my business outside.

When I got back, later that Sunday afternoon the other roommate was sitting on the bottom of the stairs to the 2nd floor & I couldn’t get by her.

Fortunately, my landlady saw what happened.

My landlady told the other roommate to move. When she didn’t move, my landlady told her to move a 2nd time. My landlady also picked up that she seemed to be very upset. My landlady asked her what was wrong.

At that point the other roommate jumped up and started yelling and screaming in a really loud, angry & hostile voice.

I went by her and went up to my room on the 3rd floor and shut my door.

It was a good that my landlady saw 1 of her outbursts.

Early last Sunday afternoon as I was going down from the 3rd floor where my room is, the other roommate came out of her room. I couldn’t understand what she was saying but she was screaming in an incredibly loud, hostile and angry voice.

Skept repeating over and over again the phrase :

“You sick bastard”.

I don’t know what she’s talking about.

Whenever I’m inadvertently around this person I immediately walk away and go back to my room. I make a point of NEVER being around her when there is nobody else in the house.

When I came back later on that Sunday afternoon the roommate came out of the kitchen and out through the dining room and into the hall.

She started screaming at me in an incredibly loud, angry & hostile voice.

1 phrase she kept repeating over & over again was :

“Look me in the eye”

The landlady was not around when either of these 2 incidents happened.

I thought if I just avoided being around this person then there would be no ongoing provocation induced by my presence and things would calm down.

Thus is clearly not the case.

Last Monday, things escalated even further.

A little after 9:00 in the morning as I was coming back up the stairs after making some coffee in the kitchen to the 3rd floor where my room is located, my deranged roommate came out of her room yelling and screaming in a very loud, angry and hostile voice.

She also had some clothing in her hand and started waving it in my face.

I ignored her and continued up the stairs to my room.

She then started to follow me.

When realized she was following me, I said to her in a fairly loud and firm voice :

“I want you to stay away from me”

Fortunately, she didn’t follow me up the stairs.

That afternoon, my deranged roommate was in the enclosed verandah doing something with the cats.

My landlady and my deranged roommate are into animal rescue & the care of feral cats.

There are 5 bedrooms in the house. 3 of them are filled with cats.

There are cats in the dining room.

There are cats in my landlady’s office.

There are cats in the basement.

There are cats in the enclosed verandah.

There are cats in the garage out back behind the house.

There are cats in the back yard.

Sometimes there are cats in the front yard.

Our house is kind of like a Club Med for cats.

I asked both my landlady sez there are about 30 cats on the premises.

I strongly suspect that there are significantly more than 30 cats on the premises.

I am beginning to wonder if there really is anything to all those rumors I’ve been hearing for years about …

“Crazy Cat Ladies”

. I decided to enter the verandah in order to leave the house, even though my deranged roommate was still there.

She moved aside as I walked towards the door.

She also started screaming at me again in a very loud, hostile & angry voice in what I took to be some foreign language.

She actually started to follow me out of the house, yelling & screaming.

She didn’t follow me down the street.

This behavior isn’t normal.

It is now obvious to me that this person is seriously mentally deranged. Many years ago, I worked in a mental hospital and I’ve seen this behavior before. This behavior really looks to me like Late Onset Adult Paranoid Schizophrenia.

She has convinced herself and perhaps half persuaded my landlady that I have been going into her room when nobody else is in the house, and, presumably I have been rummaging around in her underwear drawer.

This simply is NOT true.

The fact that she persists in believing that I’m doing this is an example of what is called :

“Paranoid Ideation”,

which is 1 of the defining characteristics of paranoid schizophrenia.

This deranged person’s behavior seems to be both getting worse and escalating without any provocative behavior on my part.

Late Sunday night I went to the local police precinct to find out what I can do about my situation.

They were not that helpful.

Since then, I have been to the police 2 more times. They are not very helpful at all.

Neither myself NOR my deranged roommate have locks on our doors.

I’m worried that the deranged roommate might go into my room when I’m not around and destroy my computer equipment (I’m a software developer).

I’m also worried that she might go into my room when I’m not around and plant things there and then claim that I took them from her room.

2 of the cops I talked to did tell me that it was illegal to rent a room in a house without a lock on the room door. They also told me that I did not need my landlady’s consent to put a lock on my door. AND … Amazingly enough … I do NOT even have to give my landlady a key to my room.

Is all that true ?

I’m also beginning to think that my landlady is completely clueless.

If this deranged person was saying that I was snooping around in her room when nobody else was around then the sensible thing to do would have been to put a lock on the deranged roommate’s door. This might have calmed things down a bit or, at least taken away 1 of this deranged roommate’s reasons for being so hostile and angry with me.

My landlady has had over a month to do this and she has not done so.

I’m wondering if I need to see a lawyer just to find out what my real circumstances and rights in this situation are. The problem with doing so is that I have no income at the moment and I really cannot afford to pay for a lawyer (I do have some savings so I’m not in danger of becoming destitute in the near future).

I’ve never been in a situation like this before and I would very much appreciate any helpful and constructive advice, observations or suggestions that anyone could offer.

Thank you very much in advance for your help and consideration.
TheAlbinoAubergine
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Astoria, Queens

Re: O/T … Advice re dealing with a dangerous lunatic

Postby TenantNet » Mon Feb 23, 2015 6:19 pm

We don't want to be rude, but you're pressing your luck. Please keep it so short we can read the entire post on one screen without scrolling, about ten vertical inches max.
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Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
activists and is not considered legal advice.

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Re: O/T … Advice re dealing with a dangerous lunatic

Postby TheAlbinoAubergine » Sat Feb 28, 2015 9:55 pm

Here’s my 3rd attempt to trim and condense my posting.

I rent a room in a private dwelling that is 3 floor free standing house (i.e. : not a row house) located in Elmhurst in Queens and was almost certainly built before the 2nd World War so I’m assuming it is neither rent stabilized nor controlled. This is not a co-op or condo.

There are 3 people living here.; i.e. :

• myself
• my landlady
• another roommate (in another bedroom).

I pay my rent month to month and did give my landlady a security deposit equivalent to 1 month’s rent when I moved in during early December of last year.

Recently, my landlady confronted me and told me that the other roommate had told her behind my back that :

• I’m planning on beating up the other roommate
• I’m planning on raping the other roommate
• I’m planning on murdering the other roommate
• I’ve stolen money from the other roommate’s purse
• I’ve taken other things from the other roommate’s purse
• I stole one of the other roommates towels from the bathroom.
• I’ve been snooping around in the other roommate’s room when nobody else is home.

None of these accusations is true.

My landlady has told me that I have to leave. She’s given me until the end of March to find other accommodations. She implied that she thinks I’ve been sexually harassing the other roommate. This is NOT true.

Since then, the situation has begun to escalate.

One Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago, as I was leaving the house, the other roommate was following me around yelling and screaming and chanting in what I took to be some weird foreign language in a very loud, hostile & angry tone.

Later that Sunday afternoon the other roommate was sitting on the bottom of the stairs to the 2nd floor. I couldn’t get by her. My landlady told the other roommate to move. The other roommate jumped up and started yelling and screaming in a really loud, angry & hostile voice.

Early last Sunday afternoon as I was going down from the 3rd floor where my room is, the other roommate came out of her room, screaming in an incredibly loud, hostile and angry voice. She kept repeating over and over again :

“You sick bastard”.

That Sunday afternoon the roommate came out of the kitchen and out through the dining room and into the hall. She again started screaming at me in an incredibly loud, angry & hostile voice, repeating over & over again was :

“Look me in the eye”

I thought if I avoided being around this person then there would be no ongoing provocation and things would calm down. Thus is not happening.

Last Monday, things escalated further.

That morning as I was coming back up the stairs to the 3rd floor, my deranged roommate came out of her room yelling and screaming in a very loud, angry and hostile voice. She also had some clothing in her hand and started waving it in my face. I ignored her and went up the stairs to my room. She started to follow me.

I said to her in a fairly loud and firm voice :

“I want you to stay away from me”

She didn’t follow me up the stairs.

That afternoon, my deranged roommate was in the enclosed verandah. As I walked past her to leave the house, she started screaming at me again in a very loud, hostile & angry voice. She started to follow me out of the house, yelling & screaming.

This behavior isn’t normal.

It is obvious to me that this person is seriously mentally deranged.. This behavior looks to me like Late Onset Adult Paranoid Schizophrenia. She has convinced herself and half persuaded my landlady that I have been going into her room when nobody else is in the house, and, presumably I have been rummaging around in her underwear drawer. This simply is NOT true.

The fact that she persists in believing that I’m doing this is an example of what is called :

“Paranoid Ideation”,

which is 1 of the defining characteristics of paranoid schizophrenia.

I went to the local police precinct to find out what I can do about my situation. Since then, I have been to the police 2 more times. They are not helpful.

Neither myself NOR my deranged roommate have locks on our doors. I’m worried that the deranged roommate might go into my room when I’m not around and destroy my computer equipment (I’m a software developer). I’m also worried that she might go into my room when I’m not around and plant things there and then claim that I took them from her room.

The cops told me that it was illegal to rent a room in a house without a lock on the room door. They said I did not need my landlady’s consent to put a lock on my door. AND … Amazingly enough … I do NOT even have to give my landlady a key to my room.

Is that true ?

I need to see a lawyer just to find out what my real circumstances and rights in this situation are. I’ve never been in a situation like this before and I would very much appreciate any helpful and constructive advice, observations or suggestions that anyone could offer.

Thank you very much in advance for your help and consideration.
TheAlbinoAubergine
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:48 pm
Location: Astoria, Queens

Re: O/T … Advice re dealing with a dangerous lunatic

Postby TenantNet » Sun Mar 01, 2015 3:40 am

This is still WAY too long, but I'll try to wade through it. It's not that I want to give you a hard time, but in LL/T matters (actually most things) you need to express issues succinctly. Otherwise people's eyes will glaze over. You do NOT need every little detail.

You're correct, two tenants in a house are not rent regulated. Your rights are limited. Now, it doesn't matter that the accusations are not true. The LL wants you to leave. Whether the notice was technically correct (in writing) matters less. The LL can give you a hard time.

You wasted six inches on telling us how the other roommate was screaming at you. Why does this matter? It doesn't. And neither you, nor I, are capable of a medical diagnosis.

So far, all you've told us is that a) you live in a rooming house, b) there is a deranged tenant in the building, c) the LL wants you to leave, and d) the police are not helping (not surprise there).

I would put a lock on your door. I believe you have a right to do that (as the cops have told you). Actually, without looking it up, I believe the LL must supply a lock on the door. Get the name and badge number of the cop who told you that and ask them for the legal basis for that statement. Chances are they can't point to the legal provision, but you never know.

It MIGHT be in the Housing Maintenance Code of Multiple Dwelling Law, but those laws cover buildings with 3+ units. Not the case here.

As for the key, technically if the LL asks for a key, you are supposed to give it to he/she/it/them. Normally I would not trust any LL with a key, but in this case the problem is with the other tenant. And ... the LL would have to request it. I would not offer it.

OTOH, in order to lock from the outside, you might need to cut a hole in the door (there are door cylinders that can lock without additional holes). That the LL might get upset about. That is where having a cop on your side can help. But I would check your local hardware store or locksmith for alternatives. But do NOT pay hundreds to have a locksmith install a lock. Almost anyone can do it him/herself.
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