281a Halsey Street,

Brooklyn, NY 11216

The initial impression is a charming brownstone and apartment that you will fall in love with. The building and the apartments still have most of the original moldings, working shutters, plank hardwood floors and a replica claw tub. The natural sunlight and trees make it even more magical. The block was amazing with many long term residents; the yearly block party is much fun too. The train is a 5 min walk and the bus stops nearly in front of the building. Heat during the winter was adequate but depending on your unit; the top unit was always slightly cold and the ground was always too hot. Kitchen and light fixtures are cute but from cheap Ikea. Landlord lived out of state. That is pretty much it.

Rent is way too high for this apartment and its features. Firstly, you must sign a minimum 2 year lease and you can bet the landlord will raise at least 200.00 every renewal without updates or painting the apartment. The mailbox was never secure /always a broken lock. The front door never locked after the landlord updated it to a key code. I found the door many times wide open late at night/early morning when it malfunctioned (complained several times to no avail). There was absolutely no insulation between the floors and you can hear and see the lights from neighbors. Also because of this the noise was out of control and this became evident when film students moved into the ground floor and would have large parties and/or 3 full days of filming with a large film crew in the building (without her approval). The hallway was never cleaned and lights often went out. Her resolution was leaving small lamps in the hallway floor for us to use. We have went as long as a week without lights. The Landlord did not make timely repairs or accommodations and was extremely hostile and difficult when scheduling. She has no regard for her tenants' things or time; often walking into the apartment with no respect. I have recorded evidence of her and her "associates" entering my apartment without my consent or knowledge. At one point, she was in town to do a simple non-urgent repair in my unit during the afternoon (12pm) and I came home that evening at 7pm to find her still in my apartment (doing god knows what) without my knowledge. We had a leak in the apartment lasting for three years; she was convinced it was another tenant's fault conning them to pay for the repairs under false pretenses and blatantly lied what the money was actually for. She told this tenant it was to repair the water damage in my apartment when in fact my apartment was not repaired until over year later only because HPD got involved. We found out it was a leak from the roof the entire time as per her repair person- she never reimbursed the tenant (she often threatened this tenant with no renewal lease if she didn't pay for repairs). She included illegal "fees" in the clause, such as fees to simply schedule a repairperson; I meet with a lawyer who told me this was illegal and would not hold up in court. Beware of lease and make sure a lawyer reads over everything. Beware when moving out; she charged me a couple hundred for cleaning and replacing parts to the stove even though my lease specifically states otherwise and I left the apartment immaculate, pictures to prove it. It wasn't worth the argument for a few hundred dollars. I took so much care of my apartment, always paid my rent on time and was one of the longest standing tenants but she could care less. When I would tell her about any of the above issues she would often gas light and minimize the situation; I complained to her about tenants smoking cigarettes inside the building and I could smell it in my bedroom, they would have large parties but she didn't care. In fact, I heard her telling them I complained to which they lied to her about smoking but she has no idea they were smocking cigarettes and pot which could cause long term damage to walls/building. Meanwhile, she would throw a fit if we got scuff marks on the walls or used nails to put up artwork. She doesn't know they would have large parties and even filmed a movie in her building for three days attaching a large light box equipment to her front facade of the building and damaged molding inside the hallway stairs. The water was never fully hot which I would have to contact her often to fix. When other tenants complained about mice in their unit she ignored them never resolving the issue. the garbage was never properly discarded. She was always rude and difficult but because she lived out of state it was not so bad but as years went on she became more hostile, less responsive and toxic. All tenants who left during my stay were largely due to her. Beware she now lives in the building. I would not recommend the 2nd floor due to noise. P.S. She rents to young or people who may not know their rights. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.

Listen to your tenants and learn the US tenant laws. Just because you own the building doesn't mean you can walk into the tenants home and do whatever you want. When someone comes to you about an issue be more professional. Stop lying and manipulating tenants. Learn how to speak to people and mind your business.Future tenants, please be mindful of noise as this building does not have proper installation between floors.