New York Court Sides With Artist Who Hasn’t Paid Rent in Over Six Years, Says Landlord Can’t Evict Her
- Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:25pm by
Becket Adams
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While most everyone in New York City would agree that the “rent is too damn high,” at least one Brooklyn woman doesn’t worry about it. Why? Because she has been living rent-free for over six years.
“Artist Margaret Maugenest, 60, stopped paying rent for several years, but instead of getting evicted, the state’s highest court said she was justified,” CBS New York reports.
Wait. What?
“Yeah, I feel very good about that…I feel very relieved,” said Maugenest.
Watch the CBS New York news brief:
Here’s how it works: Maugenest moved in to her loft, a converted manufacturing building, in1984 but stopped paying rent some years back over “safety concerns.”
“The wooden pillars in the basement were rotting,” Maugenest said.
Under the city’s 1982 Loft Law, former commercial buildings can only be rented to residential tenants if safety issues are met, CBS New York reports.
And, according to Maugenest, when there was a gas leak in the building, the landlord never fixed it; it was simply shut off.
“We didn’t have gas for about a year-and-a-half,” Maugenest said. “That meant I couldn’t cook.”
So she stopped paying rent. Of course, after several years of non-payment, her landlord tried to have her evicted.
“The landlord won two lower rulings, but now, the state’s highest court said that since the landlord missed deadlines for building improvement, there’s no eviction, and back rent can’t be collected,” CBS New York reports.
“The result is that the tenant may live rent free in a very large apartment, that she obviously feels safe in, under the guise that she is just trying to get the Landlord to make her apartment safe, with no end or limit,” Said David Berger, the landlord’s lawyer.
Maugenest will be allowed to keep all the back rent for the past 6 1/2 years (about $35,000).
“Rather than pocket the $35,000 that she set aside on the advice of her lawyer, it’s about half of what she owes to her attorney for the lengthy court fight,” the report adds.
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Comments (136)
james122
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:54pmRent to damn high??? Anyone else do the math? 35,000 dollars spread over 6 1/2 years is less than 450 a month!
Report Post »KickinBack
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:14pmAfter hearing the conditions of the place I could see why.
Report Post »dwh320
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:18pmThe landlord will have to pay her attorney fees plus he is out the 35k in rent. He will have to make repairs and that will be another 30k. She made out sweet on this. The only way to get her out would be for the LL to force everyone out to rehab the entire building.
Report Post »Mapache
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:36pmwhy did the city even allow anyone to rent there? Instead of worrying about eh size of my Big Gulp how about checking on some buildings like this?
Report Post »drbage
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:57pmAnother flash of common sense: If the woman did not pay her rent, because she did not feel safe in her loft apartment, WHY did she live there for 6 1/2 years?
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 8:00pmI own a property management company in the seattle area and have never even seen a rent that low on either my commercial or residential properties. I used to pay twice that much a month for a barn stall for my horse while I was rebuilding my barn. yes 850 a month to board my horse. what a joke.
Report Post »Chicken_Math
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 8:09pm$450 a month is cheap any where. Have you ever seen Joe’s Apartment? That‘s what I’m thinking of for $450 a month in NY. I bet when things started going south she looked around for a new apartment. In that search she couldn’t find a cardboard box under $1,000. So she stayed and ended up paying twice over for it to the lawyers.
Report Post »william 123
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 8:15pmThat‘s why the repairs weren’t made…simple economics…no rent, no money for repairs. I rent a house that due to the Housing bubble fiasco I will never be able to sell, however, I take a small portion of the rent and set it aside for repairs each month and if there were no rent money then i would be unable to afford repairs. More leftist BS in my book…they want everything for free and don’t see the need to pay for anything because some one else had better pay….our country is dying.
Report Post »Wolfgang the Gray
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 8:18pmSo she gets to stay in a run-down building that is owned by a slumlord. I guess that is what New Yorker’s call a good deal? Glad I don’t live there. I‘m sure they wouldn’t like my 2nd Amendment leanings either.
Report Post »woodyb
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 10:01pm@ DRBAGE — Because it was FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »toto
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 10:22pmWhat a scam. Anyone who owns New York City properties is out of their mind.
Report Post »NeoFan
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 12:53amI wouldn’t live in a luxury penthouse apartment in New York City if they paid me to do it.
Report Post »Jaycen
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 1:22amIf you side with this low-life woman, you’re a fool.
Rent control. The landlord can’t charge what he wants, because the city won’t let him.
It becomes a war between the landlord and the tenants to try to move people out who’ve been underpaying for rent for decades. Both sides use nasty tricks, all because the government stuck it’s nose in and screwed up the free market.
Ultimately, the property belongs to the landlord. If she doesn’t like it, and she’s got all this money (SO willing to pay her rent for a good apartment), then let her move out and find an apartment that makes her happy enough to pay.
Report Post »Jaycen
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 1:24am@Mapache
Yeah, why did the CITY ALLOW anyone to rent there? I mean, the city should determine where people can live, and who can rent to whom, right? Man, what New York City REALLY needs is more government oversight of the lives of citizens.
Great point, comrade. Remember, we’re all in this together!
Report Post »HowardSternIsABigot
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 6:56amAs a landlord Id call Benny the Torch and arrange for a fire sale. Too accept a standard where an iirrational person can stay for 6 years and claim its unsafe is rediculous. Lease expires and you dont move?? Judges are stupid in New York.
Report Post »Threy are trying to end private property ownership. Revolution is nigh.
brezzeone
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 6:52pmWe live in great country, don’t we ?
Report Post »inthealpine
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 8:47pmBest thing the LL could do is kick everyone else out, move in, then claim it is an owner occupy and the LL could kick her out for any reason or no reason at all.
Report Post »Mr_Meaner
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:54pmI would definitely burn it down
Report Post »cristo52
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:53pmSo you guys quote the landlords lawyer. Pretty credible. You obviously never had a bad – I mean a REALLY BAD landlord – like one who shuts off the gas for a year and a half and allows the building supports to go to hell. Not every case is cut and dry and that’s why they have appeals courts. Glenn’s boyos are wrong on this one; any and all points go to the artist. FIN
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 11:42pmAgreed.
Report Post »HowardSternIsABigot
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 6:59amI guess im just not stupid enough to stay 18 months in a place without gas or water. Take a hint stupid, move. Is that the only slumlord you can abuse? Freaking thieves and schemers, judges are stupid.
Report Post »AnAmericanToo
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 2:17pmFirst one has to realize that this is in New York City….people who live there have no common sense. (Case in point, the mayor wanting to ban large soda drinks because it fits his wacky agenda while the public goes along with it.) NYC housing became slum housing after WWII when the city imposed rent controls. Those who were smart and could – fled the city.
In this instance one has a woman who rented a loft for cheap. We don’t know when she moved in only that she stopped paying her rent for six and half years. No rational thinking person would put up with gross substandard living conditions for six and half year to ‘prove a point’.
Who is at fault? I would nominate the NYC rent freeze unit for creating the slum housing in NYC. The woman is stupid for staying for more than six years in a structure she deemed unsafe but apparently in her layman’s opinion has proven to be wrong as her loft is still standing. No hot water for 18 months? That was the living conditions of NYC’s tenement housing at the turn of the 20th Century and who brought back these conditions? The NYC Rent Control Unit!
Report Post »Nancys Red Diaper Doper Babies
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:52pmSo this artist spent approx. $70,000 on legal fees to avoid being evicted, from an apartment with no gas, no hotwater and rotting wood pillars. Seems a little backwards. I would have just moved out.
Report Post »infortheride
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:52pmAdd your comments
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:12pmIf it’s not safe….. move out. Sounds like she didn’t want anything fixed.
Also, I don’t have gas and I still cook. Hot plate, toaster oven and microwave.
What’s next on her list? $50,000 for not being able to farm?
Report Post »scuba13
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:12pmI didn‘t know Encinom’s grandmother lived in New York and is an artist.
Report Post »Listen_then_think
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:51pmNew York sucks again. Every day 100 more reasons to kick NY out of the US.
Report Post »joshuawoodz
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 9:38pmYou are 100% right with that one. New York is a shìt hole!
Report Post »MENSA_Lib
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:51pmCapitalists just don’t understand. Her extra cash flow is exactly what will stimulate this economy. Food stamps too!
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:58pmMensa and lib…figures with such a stupid post. Tell me Genius…How in the F does stealing from one to give to another stimulate anything??? God you are stupid! Mensa my a@@…Retardville escapee…
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:19pmMensa tool Your ideas are insane if you think food stamps stimulate the economy,mensa my @ss you’re an idiot.
Report Post »mharry860
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 12:21amI think Mensa was joking.
Report Post »Larry E
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:50pmGee I wonder why people who provide services and jobs and pay taxes are leaving states like NY and California that have become socialist workers paradises? It couldn’t be that the slackers in those states are well cared for while the taxpayers and business people are leaving as fast as they can. Let the socialists figure it out when the tax revenues drop to near zero. The rest of us should bail them out then? I think not.
Report Post »honkytonkman
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:50pmIs it me, or is wrong becoming right ?
Report Post »Ducky 1
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 9:34pmSadly we are there!
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:49pmA contract is a two way street. 6 years is plenty of time to fix a gas leak! If the landlord wants his money, he needs to keep up his side of the bargain and stop being a douche.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:55pmI would give her a light to fix that gas leak….a sky high eviction.
Report Post »Fubared
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:18pmJoe. The expert on douches speaks again. Go Joe. Gastro-Instestinal Joe. G.I. JOE knows!
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:18pmConservatives sure love violence, don’t they?
Report Post »Fubared
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:41pmCome on Joe, first the gay routine and now violence? Did another nambla meet and greet get cancelled?
Report Post »HowardSternIsABigot
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 7:04amContract was not written for 6 years. Want to bet dimwit? Ever sign a lease? 6 months, 1 year yes, 6 years? never.
Report Post »In most legal endeavors if you voluntarily stay in a pile of crap its assumed you accept the existing conditions. Ill bet the agreement provides for all sorts of reasons to evict but the courts dont let the landlords enforce the contract. why is that? contracts arent 2 ways always , are they.
perry1980
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:49pmOccupy Wall Street idi0ts love that.
Report Post »Madmilo
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:49pmArtist, That says it all.
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:55pmYeah, I noticed the snide hit on “artists” too. Why do christians and conservatives in general hate art so much?
Report Post »Nancys Red Diaper Doper Babies
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:05pmBecause being an “artist” has become an excuse for hipsters not to work.
Report Post »honkytonkman
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:06pmMr. Bonham, Art is fine and dandy………provided it is not subsidized by unknowing taxpayers. The real sad fact is that much of today’s government supported so called “art” is vile and perverted.
Report Post »Joe Bonham
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:09pmYes. I am fully aware of what Christians find “vile and perverted”. These are the people who have sex with their socks on…
Report Post »Melika
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:09pmI’m an artist and I hate most artists. Most are talentless morons with nary the brains to keep a regular job at a burger joint. They overcompensate for their lack of talent and intelligence by being arrogant and disdainful to anyone who isn’t an “artist”, especially NY “artists”. People can’t stand them because they are such nasty, worthless people.
Report Post »Fubared
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:43pmMelika
Report Post »Joe and overcompensate should never be uttered in the same sentence…Imagine the super uber assinine remarks to come forth now. Go Joe-
gadgetninja
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 12:59ami DO NOT have sex with my socks on lol just the lights
Report Post »quiltgal
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:48pmIf the landlord cannot afford, or doesn’t choose, to make the building safe, he has no business letting anyone live in it, much less renting it. One could say, however, that he made it safe by shutting off the gas, in which case the tenant always has the option to move on. However, she chose not to. I think she’s taking advantage. She should be evicted immediately, which is what the landlord was trying to do, and I think she should be partially liable for back rent because she chose to stay there anyway. This is private property after all. It doesn‘t belong to her and it doesn’t belong to the government.
Report Post »Nancys Red Diaper Doper Babies
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:01pmThe inability to evict stumps me. I understand why a case can be made for no back rent being due but I‘m unclear on how the court can prohibit a property owner from evicting someone who hasn’t paid rent. Is she entitled to squat their indefinitely now?
Report Post »barber2
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 8:06pmENCI : If the landlord “failed to provide a safe apartment ,“ why would leaving an unsafe environment be ” punishment?” It would seem a logical thing to do .
Report Post »booger71
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 9:02pmThe lower courts must have thought the apartment was safe. If the tenets are not paying rent, the landlord has the right to turn off the utilities. If the original complaint was weak structural controls, why did not the city engineers, shut this building down?
Report Post »JediKnight
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 11:41pmIf the apartment isn’t safe, then the state shouldn’t be allowing her to live there. By not declaring the apartment unfit for living, the state is complicit in her living there rent free. If she or the state really thought it wasn’t safe to live there, then they are both at fault when something bad happens.
Would you continue to live in an apartment that you thought was unsafe? I know I sure wouldn’t. Even if the landlord didn’t want to fix the problems, I’d move out fast. Then I’d let the landlord try to collect rent from me and say that I broke the agreement. Just let them try as you show evidence that you contacted the landlord about the problems and decided to move because you no longer felt safe. At least then it would make sense why you weren’t paying rent.
This lady is just trying to live there rent free.
Report Post »face.chewer
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:47pmPlenty of freeloading conservative farmers sucking the tit of government, but oh wait that‘s different isn’t it.
Report Post »varptr
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 10:29pmCut your own throat, leave mine alone.
Report Post »HowardSternIsABigot
Posted on June 12, 2012 at 7:33amNot different, just an unsupported assertion. What farmer isnt pasying his rent? What farmer is farming someone elses land and not paying up? You must be thinking of pigford?
Govt doesnt want to support these mentally ill artists so it tries to shift the c ost to the productive.
Report Post »That Guy
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:47pmNotice: her lawyer is the only one who made out on this deal…
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:51pmDon’t they always?
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:46pmYa gotta have a gimmick!
Report Post »Madmilo
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:46pmBurn the building down and make it a parking lot.
Report Post »nkawtg
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:43pmAt first I thought good for her, force the landlord to make repairs. Then realizing that after six years of not paying rent, for “Safety Concerns” and still chooses to live there, well I say she’s freeloading.
Report Post »Maybe the landlord needs to have the city evict her for “Safety Concerns”
progressiveslayer
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:43pmThere was a safety issue so she decided to stay anyhow and the landlord didn’t fix the gas leak eh?
Report Post »She survived six years with this safety issue and it was so unsafe she decided to stop paying rent and yet stayed in this dangerous situation.The system is broken when people can just free load off of landlords,typical Obama voter and she should be canned in public.
0Troy
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:43pmThe building is so dangerous she can’t pay rent, but is safe enough she can continue living there.
Don’t make this about contract clauses or evil landlords or jerky tenants, there is one party making a seriously flawed argument. Giving that party any credulity is silly.
Report Post »face.chewer
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:37pmScrew that landlord, he gets what he deserves. No gas for 1 1/2 years? The landlord wasn’t Donald Trump was it?
Report Post »infortheride
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:51pmYou forgot to add how the landlord tied her to her bed not allowing her to leave on her own free will.
Report Post »manandwolf
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:57pmif shes not paying rent then where is the repair money coming from? tenants all think landlords are rich but most have mortgages, not to mention taxes and insurance to pay.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:00pmGo sniff some bath salts….Idiot.
Report Post »saranda
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 7:23pm@manandwolf – so is the answer for renters to ask for credit histories on their landlords to ensure they can afford the upkeep on the building? Seems a little unreasonable. A tenant should be able to expect the building to be maintained.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:36pmIsn’t there something in the Bible about building a house on “sand”?
Report Post »commonsenseguy
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:35pmwhat the hell, 6 years how is the owner suppose to pay his bills, this is just the start of obamas grand plan, every thing free, o wait someone has to pay the bills,wonder how that is going to work out when the courts allow people to live some where for 6 years and the owner can‘t get paid so he can’t pay his bills and that includes his taxes.but when he can’t pay his bills,this same judge will have him evicted and then the i r s will have him imprisoned for not paying his taxes, but obama has it all worked out,won’t be great.
Report Post »piper60
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:32pmWOW! Talk about playing the system!
Report Post »hayesstephen
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:30pmGood for her!!!!!! Landlord,slum landlords should be made to live in the rat holes they rent out.
Report Post »commonsenseguy
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:41pmi would agree with you,but for the fact that the tenant could have move out because of the living conditions,something is not here,why would she stay some where that was so bad and so unsafe,if she was that afraid,she would have been gone, and one other thing to take into account,there inspection by the city and state and if the owner took hud,the government would have been there,some thing is not right with the story,
Report Post »encinom
Posted on June 11, 2012 at 6:52pm@Commonsenseguy, here is the issue, the landlord attempt to get her to move by turning off the gas, instead of hiring some one to address the issue. This rule in New York is to force slum lords to fix problems, not to create them to get old tenants out so new one can be charged at higher rates (remember New York City has rent controlled apartments).
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