Some residents of one rent-stabilized Astoria apartment building say they are tired of having to fight for what should be their basic rights as tenants.
Sally Aponte has been living at 28-28 35th St. since 1995 and said she started having issues with the building’s landlord, Peter Hiotis of P & T Management CO LLC, when it came to getting repairs completed within her apartment.
At first, Aponte decided to verbally ask her landlord for help with regard to these repairs, such as fixing a kitchen stove or repairing broken bathroom tiles, but after receiving what she calls “patchwork repairs,” she decided to finally file a formal complaint to 311 in 2007.
“He tends to always blame the tenants whenever you ask for repairs and I think he uses that to discourage you to ask for repairs,” Aponte said.
During this time, an attorney for the landlord also sent Aponte a letter advising her that if she made any further complaints, Hiotis would have to pursue eviction because she was allegedly violating the “rent stabilization code.”
Aponte added that the stove was fixed because Hiotis was fined by the FDNY but the rest of the problems in her home remained ignored until an inspector from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) went to the home.
The inspector found nine violations within the home, such as exposed and sparking electrical wiring, defective and broken plastered surfaces on walls and ceilings, and a defective smoke detector.
And although some of the repairs have since been completed, albeit improperly, Aponte is facing eviction.
According to court documents, Aponte is facing eviction because she is being accused of withholding rent, harassing other tenants, and defacing vehicles of her landlord and other tenants. However, Aponte says she has evidence proving all those accusations as false and believes the eviction comes as a form of retaliation for reporting past and present neglected repairs.
6 comments:
Hpd will find violations no matter where they go.
There should be a declaration of war on these criminal landlords and shadow llc's that run and deliberately ruin buildings and disenfranchise the rights of people. If they felt truly threaten by that tenant they be justly in a decrepit hospital breathing and eating through tubes by now.
There was a recent bust of 2 lowlifes that gutted a building to force tenants out and another lowlife plus his goon that tried to strongarm tenants, even breaking into their homes. Let's hope this continues. Now if only Albany or city council can stem the influence of sellout lobbyists working for developers and real estate.
Maybe what will get these bastards truly scared is when they see that century old luxury housing pirate Litwin being frogmarched out on the street with the Feds in cuffs.
+1
Give them a chance and HPD will find something to issue a violation on. That's their business.
I bet they would be able to find violations in most single family homes too if they were given a chance.
There are bad landlords and bad tenants. From the story, you can't really tell who is worse here.
At least you dont have peter vallone as councilman in astoria anymore. He was pro landlord councilman and constantenedes is more pro tenant than peter vallone.
I can understand being frustrated with a landlord who won't make repairs. What I can't understand is a tenant who won't take matters into their own hands and maintain their own smoke detector (or co2 detector).
WARNING ! anti tenant trolls above.
Landlord wants to force tenant out of a rent stabilized apartment using mafia style tactics to accomplish this. Landlord is, of course, not an
American citizen therefore, he is above the law, doesn't have to abide by US laws.
Just like the immigrant landlords who blew up the building in the East Village with the jerry rigged gas line. whew... free gas for ever and no demolition costs or messy permits from the DOB.
Any harassing of other tenants by this woman are the ones who have been paid by the landlord to claim so in court. I hope this tenant wins in court.
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