Terrible Neighbor, Ant Infestation, and Blacklisted from Renting in NYC
Pros
There are no pros!
Cons
Loud neighbor alert: Paula is constantly on the phone, usually yelling at her daughter, and when she’s not home, her dog barks nonstop. The only peace I ever got was on Sundays, when her husband didn’t work and stayed home. The landlord, Elias, took what was supposed to be a one-bedroom apartment on the first floor and illegally split it into two units with a basement. The walls are so thin it feels like we all live together. If there were ever a fire, the people on the first floor would be completely trapped. It’s clear he didn’t care about safety—just squeezing out more rent. He submitted a false building plan to 311 and was fined after inspectors came to take photos. He was furious that I let them in, but they explained how dangerous the layout really is—blocked exits, no fire escape, a serious risk if something ever went wrong. On top of that, I had to keep calling 311 because of a massive ant infestation all over the floors and walls. Instead of hiring professionals, he sent some young guy with another day job to handle it, and nothing he did ever worked. And then, Elias tried to take me to court. Because of that, my name ended up on a secret blacklist that’s passed around between landlords in NYC. It doesn’t matter why you’re taken to court—once your name is on that list, you’re blackballed from getting a decent apartment for five years. I’ve been seriously thinking about suing him over this. Bottom line: Elias is a slumlord. Stay far, far away from anything he owns.
Advice to the owners
You’ve treated your tenants like they’re disposable, and it’s catching up to you. You cut corners by turning a legal one-bedroom into two illegal units, putting lives at risk just to squeeze out more money. You filed false building plans with 311, got caught, and instead of fixing it—you got angry that someone stood up for their safety. That tells me everything I need to know about your character. You ignored serious infestations, hired unlicensed people to patch things up, and thought that was enough. It wasn’t. The problems kept coming back, just like the calls to 311. Then, when I exercised my rights as a tenant, you dragged me to court—and because of that, my name ended up on NYC’s secret tenant blacklist. You’ve made it harder for me to find housing, and for what? Because I expected to live in a safe, habitable apartment? I’m not the problem. You are. And the city’s slowly catching on. If you had invested even half the energy into maintaining your property that you put into intimidating tenants, you'd have happier renters, fewer fines, and probably a lot less stress. But instead, you chose greed. And that never ends well.
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