Front Door is Fire Hazard

[sabrina]

The top lock on the front door is broken and on several occasions it has taken me a few minutes to open the door from the inside. Once it actually took 15 minutes. In a panic I called 911 and was put on hold. While waiting I decided to try again and finally was able to open the door. It is also difficult to open the door from the outside because of this lock. Last week the landlady couldn't open the door and had to go through the basement to get into the building. I do not have a key to the basement because it is someone's apartment. The landlady refuses to fix the lock. She just tells us not to use the top lock.

I would like to have a housing inspector investigate this but have been unable to find out how to do this.

I would like to know if I have other options such as contacting the local fire house.

<small>[ February 09, 2003, 11:26 PM: Message edited by: sabrina ]</small>

[jot0n0]

If your building owner fails to maintain your apartment and provide essential services, you may report the condition to HPD's Central Complaint Bureau (CCB) at (212) 824-4328. For the hearing impaired, the TTY number is (212) 863-5504. The CCB is open 24-hours a day, seven-days a week.

And go to NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development website for more info.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/data/hpd-online-portal.html

[shirts and shoes]

Hi,

We recently had a lot of luck by contacting our local politicians with a problem with the front door to our building. We had everyone sign a petition and sent it to the landlord and to our state assembly member and city council member. HPD showed up within the week to inspect. Complaints to HPD by individuals in our building have gone without being inspected. Good Luck and you should certainly call the Fire Department - they respond very quickly.

-311 Roslyn Court Tenant Association
Brooklyn, NY

[joliett]

For a minimal charge, an engineer can legally document this front door lock problem - which will either get it fixed or get you a rent reduction.

[TenantNet]

Few comments...
LL's are required to provide and maintain ONE lock, not additional locks ... unless the unit came with the additional locks. Tenants who install additional locks can't throw that burden on the LL. (we don't know the case here).

Get and keep a small vial of graphite to lubricate the lock. Does wonders. Keep the vial in some cranny in the hallway, just in case.

For real broken lock situations (this might be one of those), yes HPD or DHCR are ways to address it. Also housing court. Sometimes politicians or just tenant pressure.

If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. No need to get an engineer for something like that.

As for the 'ads,' not all of his posts suggest getting an engineer; some do. We don't mind his tag line as long as he isn't trolling for work. (after all, that's why we have ads) We've said this to him and it's a policy we've insisted on with others. If the posts cross the line, let us know.