- posted: Jul. 22, 2020
#outerbridgelaw #nyc #landlordtenantattorneys
#photocred: Andre Hunter
Under the law, if you are a tenant, or legally entitled to occupy an apartment, you can go to civil court to obtain an order prohibiting your landlord from harassing you.
Harassment is defined as “any act or omission by or on behalf of the owner that causes or is intended to cause a person lawfully entitled to occupancy [of an apartment] to vacate [that apartment] or surrender or waive any rights.”
Some examples of harassment may include (but are not limited to):
1. Use of force or threats of force against you;
2. Lying about the rent regelation;
3. Repeated or prolonged interruptions or discontinuances of essential services;
4. Repeated failures to correct hazardous or immediately hazardous violations of the housing maintenance code (for either your apartment or the common areas of your building);
5. Starting repeated baseless court cases against you;
6. Removing your possessions;
7. Changing your locks or removing your doors;
8. Contacting with you with such frequency or at such unusual hours or in such a way that can reasonably be expected to abuse you;
9. Repeatedly contacting you on Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays, or at times outside of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or in a way that can be reasonably expected to abuse you.
10. Repeatedly trying to offer you a “buyout” within six months of you having declined an offer.
To start a harassment case, you must file a HP Harassment Petition. You include all the acts or omissions that you believe amounted to harassment, as well as catalogue the repairs that need to be addressed in your apartment or the common areas of your building.
Once you begin the case, you must show the Court what your Landlord did (or did not do) to harass you. It is always a good idea to keep records of occurrences, recordings if you can.
If the behavior is proven, the Court will then assume that the Landlord intended to harass you. It is then your Landlord’s duty to deny that it ever happened, or show that the conduct was not intentional, or that it was done in good faith and in a reasonable matter to fix the conditions affecting your apartment.
The Court has the power not only to stop this atrocious behavior, but also impose civil penalties against your Landlord of up to $10,000.00 (payable to New York City, not you). Further, if your Landlord violates the order, the Court can impose additional and substantially harsher penalties. Note, that you can also assert harassment as a defense in a case your Landlord started against you in Housing Court. Note that the NY Attorney General's office takes tenant harassment very seriously.
