Latest news with #HousingCourt
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Newsweek
Renter Bails on $20K Bill, Not Prepared for Landlord's Revenge: 'Thought She Got Away'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A New York City landlord has been applauded for their years-long online campaign to expose a former tenant who stopped paying rent and left their apartment "filthy". The landlord and original poster (OP), user Buddhany, shared their story on Reddit, explaining how they had rented their furnished Manhattan apartment to a woman from Queensland, Australia. Although she lacked previous landlord references, the OP noted, "She was gainfully employed, met the financial criteria to qualify, and provided some solid letters of reference." Seven months into the lease, however, the tenant reportedly stopped paying rent, skipped Housing Court hearings, and then left the country. "She arrogantly and callously cost me $20,000 in unpaid rent and damages," the OP wrote. So, the OP plotted their revenge. Stock image of a residential lease agreement. Stock image of a residential lease agreement. Photo by JJ Gouin / Getty Images The OP explained, "She has a very unique name, so I bought her domain name - let's say her name is Jane Smith, I purchased - and built a website. "I proceeded to post the details on said website: her photo, an official copy of the financial judgements I won against her (she owes me $16,000 in unpaid rent + $7,000+ in damages) including photos of the filth left in the apartment, the damaged furniture and broken microwave, the notice from the Marshall posted on door with eviction details, details about where she worked and the club she frequents in Queensland to play bridge." They added that they were very careful to only include facts "so as not to be accused of slander". 'Publicly unmasked' "I focused on the SEO of the website and managed to have the website be the #1 result when you google her name," the OP wrote. "Then I sat back and looked at the stats of the website visits, which showed her employer had visited the site." The OP also said they notified the people who wrote the tenant's letters of reference and received tips from people who had spotted her at conferences. In a message to Newsweek, the OP said their revenge on the former tenant has been "satisfying". 'Most people are decent human beings' "I am very surprised that I have not heard from her," the OP noted. "She has outstanding debts with me, and she can run, but she cannot hide...I have been patiently waiting for any attempts at restitution for more than 2 years." They wrote that the "overwhelmingly positive" comments on Reddit have been "heartwarming". "Most people are decent human beings, and they despise it when others take advantage and flagrantly violate the law and social norms of human decency," they added. Reddit Reacts Reddit users flocked to the comments to weigh in, with many applauding the OP's tenacity. One wrote, "While we may never be able to become friends, I most assuredly hope to never be your enemy!" Another added approvingly, "This isn't too far, this is exactly far enough. [People] like her count on the fact that landlords or victims won't have the time or money to fight back. And you said bet." "This is LITERALLY the VERY BEST revenge outcome I have ever heard of," one Redditor noted. "And you served it cold and aged perfectly." More Landlord Coverage Disputes between landlords and tenants are not uncommon, and there are plenty of examples that have attracted online attention. Newsweek covered a post detailing a young tenant's dispute with their landlord over a security-deposit deduction that went viral on Reddit. The tenant said the landlord was "super nasty over email" when they asked about the issue: "I sent her the pictures and she ignored them, mentioning that she 'also has picture proof of the uncleanliness'. She must have used a spyglass..." Not all landlord-tenant relationships end in acrimony, however. 'I was really taken aback' A landlord in Maine shared a rare find after one of his tenants, who had lived in the same apartment since 1992, moved out and left behind a perfectly cared-for home that stunned him. "I was really taken aback because it does not look like this place was lived in for 32 years," the landlord, Syed Zafar, told Newsweek. "It was in such great condition for its use and age." To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, click here.
New York Post
24-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Tax lien sales by NYC threaten to worsen the affordable housing crisis
Alarm bells are only just starting to ring about a huge threat to the city's housing stock: the growing crisis of older rent-regulated apartment buildings, especially the smaller ones largely owned by 'mom and pop' landlords. Pre-1974 rent-stabilized units, mainly in the outer boroughs, now house about 1.7 million New Yorkers, but many of theses buildings are in deep financial distress water: The rental income doesn't cover their ongoing expenses, or soon won't if the Rent Guidelines Board keeps holding increases to below the rate that those expenses are rising. A good number of landlords have only made ends meet by delaying payments on property taxes and/or water and sewer bills, and city Department of Finance efforts to collect on that debt stand poised to trigger a wave of foreclosures likely to spark a disastrous downward spiral. After putting tax-lien sales on hold early in the pandemic, the department was set to hold the first one in years on May 20, only to postpone it to June 3 as it began to realize how bad things may be. In these sales, the city gets cash upfront while the lien purchasers gain rights to collect on the debt; they can start charging high interest rates plus penalties. Owners struggling to pay that, along with all their other bills, wind up deferring even vital building maintenance; some eventually just walk away, abandoning the property and all its debts; others lose the building to foreclosure. Tenants suffer as everything falls into disrepair, and can suffer more if the building winds up owned by unscrupulous and predatory speculators. Meanwhile, the entire structure can deteriorate so badly that full repairs start to cost more than replacing the whole building. As Sean Campion of the Citizens Budget Commission noted in testimony to the Rent Guidelines Board last week, market prices for these pre-'74 buildings are now falling as the net income (rents minus expenses) collapses. This crisis is exacerbated by destructive city and state housing actions — costly climate-change and sanitation mandates, rents never collected after the COVID 'eviction moratorium,' units the landlord has to stop renting because the 2019 state Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act makes it impossible to finance renovations after a longterm tenant finally leaves . . . Plus, Housing Court is so clogged that even open-and-shut eviction cases take forever. None of this gets mentioned as Democratic mayoral wannabes debate the city's housing crisis; these landlords, many of them minority and/or immigrants, just don't carry the political heft of the professional 'tenant advocates.' The CBC's Campion warned the RGB that continues to OK below-inflation rent increases will only accelerate the crisis; other reasonable moves pushed by a landlords group, the Small Property Owners of New York, include: Fix Housing Court so deadbeat tenants aren't living rent-free for years while awaiting eviction hearings. Amend state housing laws that limit owners' ability to upgrade apartments. Expand existing and create new targeted emergency-rental-assistance programs. Cap property taxes and other costs equivalent to the caps that the Rent Guidelines Board puts on rent increases for stabilized apartments. The Finance Department would also be wise to put off any lien sales for months at least, not just two weeks, because it's now guaranteed to trigger a slow apocalypse for this vital housing stock. If something doesn't break soon, New York is on track to lose a huge chunk of its affordable apartments.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Free classes on everything to know about affordable housing and more
NEW YORK (PIX11) — If you've ever had a question about how to get affordable housing, how to navigate Housing Court, or even how to get rid of pests, New York City's housing department is offering free help. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development is offering free virtual classes during the summer to help answer some of the most commonly asked questions on housing in New York City. All the classes will be over Zoom and will have live interpretation in Spanish, Chinese, and Bangla. New website launches for affordable housing rentals without lotteries Some of the classes planned include how to apply for the affordable housing lottery, how to improve your credit to access housing, how homeowners can avoid deed theft, what to expect if going to housing court and how to eliminate pests. Classes for May have already begun but they will continue to run through July 30. More classes are also expected to be scheduled. New Homey app helps simplify affordable housing lottery application For a full list of classes and to register click here. Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
