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   Forming a Tenants Association
 

In practical terms if there are six or more units in your building it is time to form a tenants association.

Today you may have an honest fair landlord, but tomorrow you might find the building sold to the nature of landlord that is there to give you problems.

The formation of the tenants association so far as structure is concerned

You do not need a corporate structure. You can merely vote for a president and secretary and this constitutes an unincorporated association.

Then pick a name to put on your letterhead and open a savings account at a local bank and you have your tenants association.

Now you have a legal tenants association.

As a tenants association the association and its members enjoy the protective benefits of section 230 of the Real Property Law.

While I have given you the legal cast, parallel to this is a more informal structure that I will recommend.

If you have a large building or complex you should appoint floor or section captains. They form the members of your steering committee.

  

Function of Tenants Association

(a) The tenants association acts as a collective bargaining unit or representative in dealing with the landlord.

(b) A tenants association acts as a clearing house of information. This function becomes extremely important for seniors and the disabled.

(c) If there is a security problem in the building members can form security patrols.

(d) If there is a problem with heat or hot water or delivery of services, a tenants association can survey the building and take the information by way of putting together an application to governmental authorities via complaints to HPD, Health Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Building Department, Fire Department.

(e) a viable tenants association will be welcomed in dealing with your political representatives with housing issues.

(f) Your tenants association can hook you up with county-wide tenants associations such as Queens League of United Tenants (QLOUT). Or citywide or statewide such as Metropolitan Council of Housing (Met Council) or Statewide Tenants and Neighbors or the Citywide Tenants Coalition.

In addition if there are regulated tenants in your building and complex, the tenants association will have further specific functions:

(a) filing building wide rent reductions;

(b) challenging major capital improvement increase;

(c) guiding applications for senior citizen rent increases;

(d) keeping up with changes in the Rent Stabilization Law and Code and Rent Guidelines Board.

(e) retaining attorney and engineers;

(g) fund raising.

 

  Record Keeping

In this article I am going to speak to you about the obvious but the necessary and that is why and how a tenant must keep a loose-leaf book documenting his or her life in the apartment.

Along with your loose-leaf you should have a camera at the ready to take pictures of any condition relating to your apartment.

The loose-leaf is also something that you might wish to periodically duplicate and keep that duplicate in a safe place off the premises.

The following should be kept in your record--copies of

1. Your lease and all lease renewals;

2. All government documents relating to your apartment;

3. All correspondence with your landlord;

4. Copies of all photos taken in your apartment. This does not mean only photos that you take of a condition in the apartment but it means photos that you take of family gatherings, etc. And any photo taken should be dated in some manner, even if it is only a notation on the back. The notation should include the date and who took the photo. (Also note on picture any location information.)

5. As to any photo of any condition, you want to do the following:

(a) get a newspaper first page into the picture--a masthead of the front page (with the date)

(b) see to it that if at all possible there will be a person in the picture so that if you ever have to offer the picture into evidence in a Court or agency and the photographer cannot appear you can still properly identify the picture by bringing to the stand the person in the picture to identify same. That person can also be you--or you may be the photographer.

What I have said for the individual here also applies to the obligation of the tenants association to keep such records.

The reason records should be kept as I described is:

(a) You can use them to refresh your recollection of a past event.

(b) If you have to consult a lawyer you have your records available to show him or her at hand which makes for a smooth and perhaps less expensive consultation.

(c) If you need to go to court or before an agency the records if properly kept can support your position and take on a significance independent of your bare testimony especially because they are contemporaneous with the event.

For example: Let's say two years ago your ceiling fell. Tomorrow you are going to be in Court and you are going to testify that your ceiling had fallen.

Now, if all you had was your bare testimony that the ceiling fell you may or may not be able to convince the Court but if you had your loose-leaf you can ace the matter by:

(a) showing the Court that you have a picture taken at the time the ceiling fell

(b) you have a copy of the letter you sent to the landlord

(c) You have a copy of the violation issued by the government.

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