🚀 go-pugleaf

>DATE:   Tue, 22 Dec 1992 20:46:42 GMT
>FROM:   Jack Szwergold <jis@panix.com>
>
>Hi people.....
>
>	I need to get any info that is available regarding tenants rights
>withing New York City.  This is with regards to heat/hot water service,
>and what can be legally done if the landlord fails to provide such
>services......

There is a legal doctrine called "warranty of habitability", under which 
the landlord is expected to provide the basic services you mention and 
isn't entitled to your rent unless he does. The usual technique is to 
withold your rent (ideally you get some other tenants to do so too at 
the same time; this *really* gets his attention). He tries to evict you 
for non-payment. In landlord-tenant court, you demonstrate the absence 
of the basic services. (A city inspection in which violations are found 
is helpful; you have to call the buildings department over and over and 
get the inspectors to visit.) The judge orders him (on pain of contempt) 
to fix the boiler, or whatever, and often awards you a "rent abatement"; 
in other words, you get to keep part of the rent you witheld, and pay 
the landlord only a part. During the "rent strike" (that's what this is 
called) it's a good idea to pay your rent into a separate account, 
called an "escrow account"; judges like this because it shows good 
faith.  

I know the phrase "tries to evict you" sounds ominous, but what that 
means is that he goes to court and asks the judge for an eviction order. 
Of course you go too and say your piece. The judge will *not* evict you 
for a services-related rent strike. The very worst that can happen (if 
you can't get an inspection that shows violations, and you draw an 
unsympathetic judge) is that he'll tell you to pay the landlord his 
money, and things will return to the status quo. Except that they won't, 
quite; you'll have shown the landlord that you're somebody to reckon 
with, and he'll know he may not be so lucky the next time. 

Call the Columbia Tenants Union, (212) 866-4332; they organize lots of 
rent strikes, and conduct a rent and housing clinic on Tuesday and 
Thursday nights (I believe) where you can get more detail and get it 
from a lawyer (I'm not one).

Good luck. I've been through this myself, and it's work, but you can 
actually win these.

--Michael Smith