Some NYC tenants say they're dealing with landlords dodging needed repairs. Here's what you can do.
NEW YORK -- With holes in the floor and a ceiling that droops, a group of tenants in Lower Manhattan claim their landlord is dodging repairs.
While that case plays out in court, CBS News New York is looking into a system that doesn't always check if landlords are telling the truth.
Tenants with complaints in Chelsea
On West 28th Street in Chelsea, investigative reporter Mahsa Saeidi got a tour of three apartments.
"The wall is like this, one finger ... you see, bouncy!" tenant Fernando Garotti said of what appeared to be a soft wall.
Tenants claim the building has been deteriorating for years.
"It started from water leak from the radiator upstairs," tenant Waleed Said said of a dipping ceiling. "My concern, what happened to my bathroom? Like, when the bathroom ceiling collapsed in front of my eyes."
He said the bathroom ceiling fell four years ago. It has long since been fixed, but Said worries about the living room.
"The problem is, when a problem start, and the landlord doesn't fix it right away, it makes a bigger problem," he said.
HPD has been compelled to act
The city's Department of Housing Preservation & Development, or HPD, which enforces housing maintenance code, says it has had to step in and make emergency repairs on behalf of the landlord, charging him over $40,000.
Over the past two years, the building has had more than 300 violations, dozens classified as Class C or immediately hazardous, and all but two of the complaints have been closed.
"We are fighting in court for the landlord to fix the violations," said Altagracia Pierre-Outerbridge, the attorney for the tenants.
HPD allows landlords to self-certify repairs, saying they're fixed without verification from a city inspector. Pierre-Outerbridge said, at times, that's a problem.
"They merely go online and click the violation -- done, cured. Then, it is taken away from the HPD system," Pierre-Outerbridge said. "So the onus falls back on the tenant to call again, to miss a day of work again, to get HPD to re-issue a violation."
The city says it did document false certifications at the building in 2021, but not since. In the meantime, the landlord, citing the pending court proceeding, declined to comment.
Here's what tenants can do
So, is anyone double checking to make sure the landlord is actually making repairs? For most serious violations, the city says it will double check, adding it will go to the building and make sure issue is fixed.
It will also charge the landlord a fee for that inspection.
As for what tenants can do to encourage landlords to make repairs, Saeidi said to put their requests in writing, call 311, and report them on the HPD website.
And as the city says it has done in the Chelsea case, if it's an emergency, it will step in, make repairs.
HPD issued the following statement:
"HPD is holding this landlord accountable through the Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP). Our priority is ensuring that tenants live in safe and healthy conditions, and we will continue conducting inspections and making emergency repairs for any immediate hazards not addressed by the landlord. Tenants are encouraged to continue reporting any issues by contacting 311."
