Problems with J&0: Invasion Of Privacy

[Sara...@gmail.com]

Wanted to make you all aware of a situation that happened on Tuesday,
August 12th. I was getting ready for work in the morning when a man
unlocked my front door and walked into my apartment as I was getting
dressed. When he saw me he walked back out and locked my door. I was
unsure if the man was our new super (since he had a key) and called
J&O to inquire. I spoke to Merly who said she would call the super and
get right back to me. After over an hour of not hearing from her, I
decided to call 311 to see if it was legal for your super to walk into
your apartment as he pleases without notice. They told me to hang up
and immediately call the police if I did not know the man who walked
into my apartment. So, I called the police. When they came they talked
to our super who said it must have been the porter who was showing the
apartment to a broker. The police told him that he needed to knock and/
or call the tenants and notify them that they would be showing the
apartment.

I called J&O back to discuss what happened with them and they did not
answer. After leaving messages on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
without any answer - I contacted a lawyer who told me that the super
does not have the right to come into your apartment without notice and
your consent. He suggested I send a certified letter to J&O and await
their response. So I sent a certified letter on Monday which arrived
on Tuesday. On Tuesday afternoon I get a voicemail from Merly at J&O.
I called her back on Wednesday and finally got a call back on
Thursday.

When I spoke to her she informed me that she has been "investigating"
the situation and that it was the porter who had come into my
apartment with a broker. She was very rude about her response time and
apologized for it not being as "speedy" as I would have liked. She
then admitted that the porter did not knock or call me ahead of time
BUT they insisted they have the right to enter my apartment to show it
to prospective tenants as I am vacating my lease. Here is the problem
- 1. My lease is not over until 12/31/08. 2. We never "vacated" our
lease as we were never given the option to renew - in fact we even
planned to resign. I have asked to be allowed to break my lease early
as compensation for this invasion of privacy as I think it is awful
that - I no longer feel safe in my home and that when I called Merly
at J&O with an emergency it took one week and a certified letter for
her to respond to me.

Apparently J&O has the right to show your apartment however they are
coming in WITHOUT notifying you or asking for your consent (without
even knocking!) - just wanted to make you are all aware of the
situation. We have new staff in this building that I do not know and
am not sure I trust. Keep your doors locked and chained/deadbolted!

[warsha...@gmail.com]

They absolutely do not have the right to enter the apartment without
reasonable notice (see below). Thank you for letting us know about
this -- I _am_ vacated and am now weirded out by the idea of brokers
coming in to my apartment while I'm away.

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/realestate/habitability.html
Tenants have the right to privacy within their apartments. A landlord,
however, may enter a tenant's apartment with reasonable prior notice,
and at a reasonable time: (a) to provide necessary or agreed upon
repairs or services; or (b) in accordance with the lease; or (c) to
show the apartment to prospective purchasers or tenants. In
emergencies, such as fires, the landlord may enter the apartment
without the tenant's consent. A landlord may not abuse this limited
right of entry or use it to harass a tenant. A landlord may not
interfere with the installation of cable television facilities.
(Public Service Law §228) .

[Sara...@gmail.com]

Thanks! They are saying that knocking is reasonable notice. I
disagree. In addition - my lease isn't up for three more months and we
have NOT vacated our lease so I'm not sure of their rationale. The
bottom line is that J&O has no respect for their tenants - after
everything that has been going on with the building this was honestly
the last straw for me.

Just remember to keep you chain and/or deadbolt locked!

> > am not sure I trust. Keep your doors locked and chained/deadbolted!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[lind...@gmail.com]

OMG!!!!!! That's AWFUL! Thannks for the warning...but seriously, I'm
changing my locks!

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[elb...@aol.com]

I had this exact same thing happen to me about 3 times.

The first time I was lightly sleeping, when I heard my locks being
opened. I have a deadbolt and it appears that before I scared him
away, he had managed to turn my deadbolt to the open position. I
never gave the super a key to my deadbolt. After the incident, I
notified J&O. They were very apologetic about it, and promised it
would never happen again.

The second time I was also still sleeping, and again, someone tried to
open my locks. This was after the management company promised it
would never happen again.

The third time I was in the shower. The did not ring the bell or
knock. They just started opening the locks. Luckily my boyfriend was
there, and able to stop them before they gained entry to the
apartment.

After doing some asking around, I found out that the new people at
J&O, and those who are working at this building, seem to have no grip
on which apartments are occupied and which are empty. The company has
a spreadsheet of the apartments, listing which are empty and which are
occupied, but the list is in a shambles, and in many instances
incorrect. The fact that the company does not know who is has in
which apartments is surely contributing to the problem, but how dense
does the super have to be to not get, after 2 prior times, that my
apartment is not vacant.

My question is, is the super only making this "mistake" in apartments
occupied by lone females, or has he done it to males also?

[Sara...@gmail.com]

That is really terrifying. I hope that is not the case but I have no
idea who these new people are and because of that I do not trust them.
Did you ever pursue it with J&O? I would suggest sending a letter to
them to complain. I understand that they do not know which apartments
are vacant and which are not but the VERY least they can do is knock
on a door before entering - according to the link posted above they do
not have the right to enter your apartment without notice and consent
unless it's an emergency.

[bdo...@gmail.com]

Hey slow down. First you might want to determine if it's within your
rights to deny the landlords entrance. I doubt that it is. They
can't barge in on you, but they own the building and you can't lock
them out. See the section on locks in the AG's guide. You can add
locks of your own, but you must provide them a key. So it won't do
you much good if your intention is to keep them out.

The guide also says J & O must provide a chain lock for apartments in
multiple dwellings... I can't recall if this building falls under that
law but it's easy find out. Asking them to install a chain lock might
be a better solution.

On Aug 30, 2:49 pm, represc...@gmail.com wrote:
> Thanks for posting about this everyone - I'm going today to get my
> locks changed!

> > > occupied by lone females, or has he done it to males also?- Hide quoted text -

[Sara...@gmail.com]

I am by no means saying that they dont have a right to enter my
apartment with notice. What I am saying is that they do not have a
right to enter WITHOUT giving notice - or at the very least knocking.
I understand they have the right to come in - all I am asking for is a
call, a letter, or at the very least a knock on the door so a strange
man doesnt walk in on me while i am naked. I dont think thats too much
to ask.

> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[bdo...@gmail.com]

Sara I think you misunderstood the intent of the message posted Aug.
30, 3:14. It was directed to the person proposing to change his/her
locks. The point was that changing locks wouldn't keep them out if
the key must be surrendered to the landlord. It wasn't meant to
suggest that the landlord should enter your apartment without
notice.

[Sara...@gmail.com]

Got it! Thanks