Landlord Charging Unfair Rents? Here’s The Bottom Line


by on Oct 19th, 2010

Tuesday Tips is a series of articles from local experts to help you save money, make better decisions and plan for a better future.

A reader sent Sheepshead Bites the following letter this week:

I live in a two bedroom apartment in a Voorhies Avenue co-op. I wanted to discuss unfair rents where some people are charged $1,700 for a two bedroom, which is fair – a bit much, but fair – and others are charged up to $2,400. Let’s not forget the fact that the landlord (not the porter or the super) is lazy and won’t get anything done! He’s in it for the money – he owns half the building’s apartments!

The question basically is if it is okay for a landlord to charge $1,700 for a two bedroom apartment, and charge $2,400 for another, comparable apartment? In other words, is it legal to have such a large discrepancy in rent?

The second part basically states that the rent is unfair because the landlord never did anything. I’ll address that further down.

So, can the landlord do this? The answer is, with a few small caveats, yes.

The market is the market is the market. So long as the landlord is not pricing the apartment different based on someone’s race, sex, nationality, et cetera, the landlord can rent the space for whatever amount he thinks he will be able to get for the space.

If, however, he offers $1,700 to a white couple with a child, and then four hours later is approached by a Hispanic man and decides to charge $2,500, then something is amiss. For all practical purposes, however, without the above, it’s the landlord’s units and therefore he may charge whatever they feel appropriate. It’s also, in a practical sense, in the landlord’s interest to charge an amount to get the place rented in the quickest way possible.

So, to answer the question, unless this is a a Section 8 apartment, or the landlord is purposefully discriminating people, the landlord conduct is legal.

Now to the second part. Let’s say you’ve rented the place, and the landlord is not keeping up his share of the bargain. The heating doesn’t work, the plumbing doesn’t work, et cetera. At that point, you would go directly to Landlord/Tenant Court in Brooklyn, and sue the landlord.

Landlord’s are required to provide certain conditions in an apartment they own and rent out (heat and water are just two of them). The Court may allow you to abate (reduce the rent), or even, in certain cases, declare that the landlord breached the lease.

However, be aware of what you’re complaining about. If the building itself isn’t in tip-top shape, and, for instance, the flowers aren’t being watered enough, or an elevator doesn’t work on some days, your care will become ridiculously more difficult and could in fact be a waste of time. There are obviously different variables in each specific situation, so you definitely want to talk to a lawyer before taking your next step.

Got a question you want answered? Send it to us!

Daniel Gershburg Esq., is a real estate and bankruptcy attorney with offices in Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan. The practice was specifically set up to change the way people view attorneys, by incorporating radical ideas like calling people back quickly, returning emails, giving clients ’round the clock access to their cases and charging low fees. For more information please visit Brooklyn Real Estate Attorney Daniel Gershburg‘s website.

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  • Livefree

    Taking a stab in the dark here, I’m guessing you are referring to 2330 Voorhies Avenue, correct? I even know which landlord you are referring to as well, as he is the topic of discussion all the time in that building (Mike, right?). Since you live there, you need to have a camera handy and ready at ALL times in case you do go to Tenant-Landlords Court . ..such as to take pics of the many, many months-old broken front door lock, or the hypodermic needles strewn about in the stairways and back yard, or the drunks who sleep in the vestibule or stairways and then urinate there, or the broken elevator on the left side (even when it’s “working”, it often doesn’t stop at the floor you press and/or the inside door opens, but not the outer one), or the food/refuse being thrown out windows and landing on the sidewalk in front/backyard/garage roof, or the woman with the two white poodles who ALWAYS “walks” her dogs in the lobby or elevator, and NEVER cleans up their mess, etc., etc.

    • http://www.facebook.com/rvilner Roman Vilner

      or the woman with the two white poodles who ALWAYS “walks” her dogs in the lobby or elevator, and NEVER cleans up their mess
      -
      you gotta be kidding…. ouch

      • Riisb

        Roman Vilner if that really is your name you slanderous pig, you are an idiot… you must live in the building as you have such an intimate knowledge of what is going on…maybe you are the one who is doing drugs on the stairwell..I happen to know the woman who walks those two dogs. she is a friend of mine and you are a liar…I would watch it….you might be letting yourself in for a lawsuit….you need to get a life. I am sure you are a perfectly charming human being…if this country offends your fine sensibilities, why do you hop on the nearest plane and go back to that craphole you came from.

        • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

          Roman is a regular poster here. We’re not too impressed when people post just for the purpose of insulting people who contribute to the success of this site through their participation. Threatening a lawsuit is just bullying, and nonsense. I think you need to consider your life, and not someone else’s.

        • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

          Roman is a regular poster here. We’re not too impressed when people post just for the purpose of insulting people who contribute to the success of this site through their participation. Threatening a lawsuit is just bullying, and nonsense. I think you need to consider your life, and not someone else’s.

    • ISOUMA

      In all fairness, the building is not as bad as you are making it seem. There used to be a group of trouble-makers on the fourth floor who have since been evicted and all the shenanigans seem to have stopped. Yes, there are a few bad seeds who still choose to throw scraps out their windows, which I do not agree with, but you are making the building sound like a dump, which is most certainly is not. It’s actually improved a lot over the past year in terms of tenants and cleanliness. The new porter does a good job and I’ve noticed that all the tenants are families and couples who are polite and do not cause any problems.

      • Guest

        Apparently, you do not use the stairways (particularly the one closer to the front of the building) , or else you would have seen what so many others, including the super and temporary porter have seen and had to clean up. Human waste (urine), all over the wall and in a large pool at the bottom step, and this wasn’t just a one time occurrence either. Then there’s the hypodermic needles also in the same stairway, which also had to be cleaned up, along with (at any given time) potato chip bags, half-eaten sandwiches, condoms, soda cans, etc.. The lock on the lobby’s vestibule door has been broken for MONTHS and MONTHS and still has not been fixed or replaced. That is a terrible breach of security for the building right there alone. People who do not even live in the building, use their car keys to just grab the lock and turn it to gain access, so they can do their laundry in the laundry room or teens ganging out in the stairways getting high. The same with drunks who decide to use the warm vestibule and lobby to sleep in during the late night as well as leave their empty alcohol containers. And at least once a week, the left elevator is broken with a sign on it. No one ever said there weren’t nice and polite people in the building, and of course some of the problems may, or may not, be caused actual actual tenants vs. outsiders who are gaining access to the building at various times of the day and night either because of poor security (door lock broken), or the fact that most people will buzz someone into the building if their intercom rings, without ever bothering to ask and verify who it is.
        But it’s actual TENANTS who are throwing their garbage out their windows! Certainly not going to them nice and polite or well mannered.