Flood Damage

[dmitsios]

To whom it may concern:

I currently live in Astoria, NY. Below is an outline of events that tells my story. The outline on the original document includes reciepts, pictures, and etc... If someone could just read over it and see if I have a valid case to take to small claims court and if I do any advice. At this time, I have told my landlord I am moving out by the end of the month. I did not pay this months rent because I do not trust he will give me back our deposit. Thus by the end of may I will be moved out of the apartment. At which point when I am away and safe from my rude landlord I was contemplating on taking him to small claims court. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Danny

------------------------------------------------------
As residents in the basement apartment there have been eight floods within a period of 11 months. During these floods not one time has the landlord offered any compensation, discount on the rent, or volunteered to help with clean up. Each time the tenants had to request for their assistance.

1. 1st flood (04 June 2006) _ Heavy flood. The tenants had to run out in the rain to get supplies. The landlord offered zero help and zero compensation. No steps were taken toward finding the problem. Mr. Mastrojohn simply stated that many basements in Astoria flooded and this was the first time in many years this has occurred. Since the tenants were unfamiliar with the Astoria area they accepted it and said nothing.
2. 2nd flood (08 June 2006) _ Slightly lighter than the first but once again it flooded and within a week after the 1st flood. The landlord offered zero help and zero compensation. No steps were taken toward finding the problem. Mr. Mastrojohn once again simply stated that due to the heavy rains there was nothing that could be done.
3. 3rd flood (05 July 2006) _ Similar to the 2nd flood. At this point once again the landlord offered zero help and zero compensation. Mr. Mitsios instructed Mr. Mastorjohn that if there was another flood he would expect compensation on the next flood event, as a warning. Once again, Mr. Mastrojohn simply did nothing.
4. 4th flood (July 2006) _ Not too sure of the extent or the exact day but according to Mr. Mastrojohn the flood was really bad. Supposedly they attempted to clean up. Ms. Charalambidou was out of town and Mr. Mitsios was on business in Fresno, CA. During their absence the neighbor had plumbing problems that leaked into the basement and DEP was notified. In addition to the event above there were also heavy rains. Upon return Mr. Mitsios found a molded apartment, wet, and damaged furniture. It did not appear to have been cleaned at all. The mold scaled the walls, water present on the ground, and soil from the outside was everywhere. During this period Mr. Mitsios bought a dehumidifier to take care of the mold problem and cleaned excessively. He requested compensation only to get yelled at by Mrs. Mastrojohn demanding full rent and on time. She did not see it as anything wrong. Mr. Mitsios reminded her that they have always paid her in full, on time and in cash as requested at move in.
5. 5th flood (08 November 2006) _ This flood was similar to the 2nd. Once again, the landlords offered zero help and zero compensation. After this fact, Mr. Mastrojohn finally called a plumber but only to clean the sewer lines. During the cleaning, the plumber told Ms. Charalambidou that the lines seemed fine and that the problem stems from something else. Since he was only paid to clean the sewer lines the plumber did just that and only that.
6. 6th flood (17 November 2006) _ This flood was different than the previous five. This was a flood that was caused by a broken pipe that was coming from the toilets and showers from the above floors. The others were due to excess rain. Ms. Charalambidou went upstairs 5:30 in the morning to tell them. Their response was that the plumber did not work on the weekend and it would have to wait until Monday. Ms. Charalambidou explained that the situation is unacceptable and demanded they come down and see it and call a plumber. After 10 minutes of arguing she finally was able to convince Mr. Mastrojohn to come down. She also demanded they clean up. During the clean up process Mrs. Mastrojohn turned to Rania and in Greek told her _What are we going to do die because of this?_ Alluding to the fact that this is no big deal.
7. 7th flood (15 April 2007) _ This was flood was during the _northeastern._ The water was coming in so fast that we could not maintain it (11:00 am). Mr. Mastrojohn bought a wet vacuum and delivered it 3:00 pm after pressuring him. He dropped it off and left. Mr. Mitsios vacuumed from 3:00 pm until 5:00 am nonstop. At 5:00 am, we went up to inform Mr. Mastrojohn that he could not continue the process since he had Coast Guard Reserve duty to go to. Mr. Mastrojohn also promised to bring a plumber to create a flood prevention system.
8. 8th flood (27 April 2007) _ This flood happened during the normal rain fall. By this point no plumber had come in to begin creating a flood prevention system. Mr. Mastrojohn was informed. That day, he went on the roof to clean the gutters. After cleaning the gutters, he came down stairs will Ms. Charalambidou (the other tenant) was asleep until she heard the following. Mr. Mastrojohn attempted to come in and when he realized it was locked. He than attempted to come in through a side door. The side door we always thought was locked. One day randomly we accidently discovered it wasn't locked nor ever was. Mr. Mitsios placed a small lock from the inside. Mr. Mastrojohn not knowing this tried to come in through this side door. After he realized the tenants placed a lock he than came back to the door and knocked for entrance. There was no emergency at this point thus no point for him to enter the premises without the tenants permission but he attempted to anyways.

From June 2006 to April 2007, the following has occurred:
1. Eight Floods.
2. $0.00 compensation.
3. $0.00 deduction in rent.
4. Damaged bedroom furniture (estimated $1000).
a. This is a four piece bedroom set.
5. Damaged desks (estimated $200).
a. This includes two desks.
6. Damaged file cabinet (estimated $30).
7. Purchased dehumidifier ($160).
8. Purchased plastic bins to store possessions in ($30).
9. Cleaning supplies ($50).
10. Illegal apartment. Moving in from South Carolina the tenants did not know that at the time. They even took extra measures by going through a real estate broker (Venus Realty).
11. Time loss due to cleaning flood waters (excess of 42 hours).
a. Two of the floods resulted in Mr. Mitsios missing two Coast Guard weekend drills. This is a $442.00 loss.
b. The other six resulted in Mr. Mitsios missing his regular work. Thus 6 floods times 8 hours of work at $12 an hour is $576.00.
c. Total loss of money due to missing work is $1018.00.

-------------------------------------------------------------

PS
Once again thank you to any one for their professional and legal expertise.

Sincerely,
Danny

 

[IrishNodak]

As residents in the basement apartment there have been eight floods within a period of 11 months. During these floods not one time has the landlord offered any compensation, discount on the rent, or volunteered to help with clean up. Each time the tenants had to request for their assistance.

1. 1st flood (04 June 2006) _ Heavy flood. The tenants had to run out in the rain to get supplies. The landlord offered zero help and zero compensation. No steps were taken toward finding the problem. Mr. Mastrojohn simply stated that many basements in Astoria flooded and this was the first time in many years this has occurred. Since the tenants were unfamiliar with the Astoria area they accepted it and said nothing.
2. 2nd flood (08 June 2006) _ Slightly lighter than the first but once again it flooded and within a week after the 1st flood. The landlord offered zero help and zero compensation. No steps were taken toward finding the problem. Mr. Mastrojohn once again simply stated that due to the heavy rains there was nothing that could be done.
3. 3rd flood (05 July 2006) _ Similar to the 2nd flood. At this point once again the landlord offered zero help and zero compensation. Mr. Mitsios instructed Mr. Mastorjohn that if there was another flood he would expect compensation on the next flood event, as a warning. Once again, Mr. Mastrojohn simply did nothing.
4. 4th flood (July 2006) _ Not too sure of the extent or the exact day but according to Mr. Mastrojohn the flood was really bad. Supposedly they attempted to clean up. Ms. Charalambidou was out of town and Mr. Mitsios was on business in Fresno, CA. During their absence the neighbor had plumbing problems that leaked into the basement and DEP was notified. In addition to the event above there were also heavy rains. Upon return Mr. Mitsios found a molded apartment, wet, and damaged furniture. It did not appear to have been cleaned at all. The mold scaled the walls, water present on the ground, and soil from the outside was everywhere. During this period Mr. Mitsios bought a dehumidifier to take care of the mold problem and cleaned excessively. He requested compensation only to get yelled at by Mrs. Mastrojohn demanding full rent and on time. She did not see it as anything wrong. Mr. Mitsios reminded her that they have always paid her in full, on time and in cash as requested at move in.
5. 5th flood (08 November 2006) _ This flood was similar to the 2nd. Once again, the landlords offered zero help and zero compensation. After this fact, Mr. Mastrojohn finally called a plumber but only to clean the sewer lines. During the cleaning, the plumber told Ms. Charalambidou that the lines seemed fine and that the problem stems from something else. Since he was only paid to clean the sewer lines the plumber did just that and only that.
6. 6th flood (17 November 2006) _ This flood was different than the previous five. This was a flood that was caused by a broken pipe that was coming from the toilets and showers from the above floors. The others were due to excess rain. Ms. Charalambidou went upstairs 5:30 in the morning to tell them. Their response was that the plumber did not work on the weekend and it would have to wait until Monday. Ms. Charalambidou explained that the situation is unacceptable and demanded they come down and see it and call a plumber. After 10 minutes of arguing she finally was able to convince Mr. Mastrojohn to come down. She also demanded they clean up. During the clean up process Mrs. Mastrojohn turned to Rania and in Greek told her _What are we going to do die because of this?_ Alluding to the fact that this is no big deal.
7. 7th flood (15 April 2007) _ This was flood was during the _northeastern._ The water was coming in so fast that we could not maintain it (11:00 am). Mr. Mastrojohn bought a wet vacuum and delivered it 3:00 pm after pressuring him. He dropped it off and left. Mr. Mitsios vacuumed from 3:00 pm until 5:00 am nonstop. At 5:00 am, we went up to inform Mr. Mastrojohn that he could not continue the process since he had Coast Guard Reserve duty to go to. Mr. Mastrojohn also promised to bring a plumber to create a flood prevention system.
8. 8th flood (27 April 2007) _ This flood happened during the normal rain fall. By this point no plumber had come in to begin creating a flood prevention system. Mr. Mastrojohn was informed. That day, he went on the roof to clean the gutters. After cleaning the gutters, he came down stairs will Ms. Charalambidou (the other tenant) was asleep until she heard the following. Mr. Mastrojohn attempted to come in and when he realized it was locked. He than attempted to come in through a side door. The side door we always thought was locked. One day randomly we accidently discovered it wasn't locked nor ever was. Mr. Mitsios placed a small lock from the inside. Mr. Mastrojohn not knowing this tried to come in through this side door. After he realized the tenants placed a lock he than came back to the door and knocked for entrance. There was no emergency at this point thus no point for him to enter the premises without the tenants permission but he attempted to anyways.

From June 2006 to April 2007, the following has occurred:
1. Eight Floods.
2. $0.00 compensation.
3. $0.00 deduction in rent.
4. Damaged bedroom furniture (estimated $1000).
a. This is a four piece bedroom set.
5. Damaged desks (estimated $200).
a. This includes two desks.
6. Damaged file cabinet (estimated $30).
7. Purchased dehumidifier ($160).
8. Purchased plastic bins to store possessions in ($30).
9. Cleaning supplies ($50).
10. Illegal apartment. Moving in from South Carolina the tenants did not know that at the time. They even took extra measures by going through a real estate broker (Venus Realty).
11. Time loss due to cleaning flood waters (excess of 42 hours).
a. Two of the floods resulted in Mr. Mitsios missing two Coast Guard weekend drills. This is a $442.00 loss.
b. The other six resulted in Mr. Mitsios missing his regular work. Thus 6 floods times 8 hours of work at $12 an hour is $576.00.
c. Total loss of money due to missing work is $1018.00.

If you informed him verbally each time you are going to have a problem in court. He will deny he was notified. Did you send him written notice CRRR? I understand the emergency cases but you should have still followed up in writing to have proof.

Why didn't you notify a city inspector to come in and see that the place was illegal or uninhabitable? He would have been forced to fix things...especially when you came back to the dirt and mold.

If you can prove there is no CO for this apt. and thus it is illegal you will likely be able to get out of paying May rent, and get your deposit back. You will most likely not be able to get damages to your things as you should have had renters insurance(altho' it might now have helped due to it being a "flood"). I doubt you will be compensated for lost wages either.

I think it's worth taking him to court only if you can prove the apt. is illegal. It's great that you have pictures!!

Question: Out of curiosity why did you stay so long once you realized he was a horrible LL and the flooding was going to be an issue?

 

[dmitsios]

Why we stayed

The first flood we didn't know better and it really did rain a lot in Astoria. Other basement apartments flooded so we assumed it was a just circumstance. Then the second time, we thought the same yet grew weary. The third flood was bad circumstance. My partner was overseas and I was about to go overseas. There was no time to move out and the last thing I wanted was to return from vacation and find our belongings missing. Upon return from vacation we were in an odd situation. We were too far into the year to move out. By that time it was September and we were not planning on even staying in New York any longer then July (too short of a time to sign another year lease). My partner was graduating in May and we were planning on moving out of New York. Now it is May and sure enough we are moving to Annapolis, MD come the middle of June. We now found a temporary apartment for 4 weeks in Astoria. We finally feel that it is safe to ask for compensation. See anytime in the past we asked for compensation our landlord simply became irate.

Thank you for your time,
Danny

If you informed him verbally each time you are going to have a problem in court. He will deny he was notified. Did you send him written notice CRRR? I understand the emergency cases but you should have still followed up in writing to have proof.

Why didn't you notify a city inspector to come in and see that the place was illegal or uninhabitable? He would have been forced to fix things...especially when you came back to the dirt and mold.

If you can prove there is no CO for this apt. and thus it is illegal you will likely be able to get out of paying May rent, and get your deposit back. You will most likely not be able to get damages to your things as you should have had renters insurance(altho' it might now have helped due to it being a "flood"). I doubt you will be compensated for lost wages either.

I think it's worth taking him to court only if you can prove the apt. is illegal. It's great that you have pictures!!

Question: Out of curiosity why did you stay so long once you realized he was a horrible LL and the flooding was going to be an issue?