# Tenants Rights Issue in New York City **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenants-rights-issue-in-new-york-city/507601 "2009-08-25T04:46:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenants-rights-issue-in-new-york-city/507601/1 "2009-08-25T04:46:28Z")
So my daughter was diagnosed with Asthma recently and my apartment is a pre-war building with a lot of mold. We have been on top of the landlord/super for almost a year on this. They have done some of the work but they did such a half-assed job that the mold just regrew on everything. There was a leak in the ceiling which I think has probably been going on for the entire time of the mold, but which we reported I guess almost two or three months ago now and they just poked a hole in the ceiling the other day and it poured water all over our bathroom. Now today the super was supposed to come and fix the ceiling. I waited for him today and he never showed up or even told me he wasn’t going to, he does this all the time. I’ve been unemployed so for the most part it’s not a big deal for me to sit and wait for the super but it’s still kind of obnoxious because I kind of wanted to get to the park and write today. So we can get a prescription for the mold being fixed from our Doctor, but the lack of response from the landlord/super is getting to be too much and we are basically at the wittholding rent stage. We just resigned the lease like the day before we found out our daughter has asthma. Part of us wants to just move though my wife really likes this apartment outside of these issues. I also don’t like the idea that we may have to live in a place where we have an antagonistic relationship with the management. You are Not My Lawyer, Yadda Yadda Yadda, and I am not asking you to be, I will call my lawyer tomorrow, but I was hoping that I might be able to get some quickfire answers so I can be somewhat knowledgeable of what I can do when I do call him. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenants-rights-issue-in-new-york-city/507601/2 "2009-08-25T14:50:20Z")
bump no one? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenants-rights-issue-in-new-york-city/507601/3 "2009-08-25T15:08:28Z")
What borough are you in? I can point you to some free/low cost legal assistance programs. A few city-wide agencies: [Legal Services New York](http://www.legalservicesnyc.org/index.php). [Legal Aid of New York - Housing Rights](http://www.legal-aid.org/en/civil/civilpractice/housingpractice.aspx) (and their [self-help guide](http://www.legal-aid.org/en/ineedhelp/ineedhelp/self-help.aspx)) [TenantNet](http://www.tenant.net/) is a NYC citizen’s group (no legal assistance provided but they do have forums and informational links) [NYC.gov](http://NYC.gov) [explains how to report a landlord for a housing code violation and what will happen then](http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/pr/violation.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenants-rights-issue-in-new-york-city/507601/4 "2009-08-25T15:13:22Z")
Manhattan. Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind after I speak to my friend who is a lawyer and see if he knows anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenants-rights-issue-in-new-york-city/507601/5 "2009-08-25T15:38:57Z")
[Bar Association of the City of New York Monday Night Clinic](http://www.abcny.org/LRS/ActivitiesandServices.htm) - free but you must make an appointment in advance. At the same URL you’ll find the info for their Legal Hotline as well. The New York State Attorney General has some [general info on tenant’s rights](http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/attygenguide.html) including particular relevant statutes. (You may want to read the section on “warranty of Habitability” and “Landlord’s Duty to Repair”) [Fordham University Law School Housing Rights Clinic](http://law.fordham.edu/clinical-legal-education/6827.htm) [Cardozo Law School Housing Rights clinic](http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/MemberContentDisplay.aspx?ccmd=ContentDisplay&ucmd=UserDisplay&userid=144) If you desire mediation services rather than legal services per se, contact [NYU Law School’s Mediation Clinic](http://www.law.nyu.edu/academics/clinics/semester/mediation/index.htm) (contact info towards the bottom of the page) ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenants-rights-issue-in-new-york-city/507601/6 "2009-08-25T19:24:19Z")
Actually I think just one letter from a lawyer will get them to hop to it. Our next step is to get prescriptions faxed over from Doctors.