Sandy Hutchens relates the tenant's plight
All of the issues remained unresolved, so our tenant wisely began to document occurrences and file to the local court. He sent a statement of all incidents. The landlord then files in court false statements about not being allowed entry to premises, notice of termination of lease and notice of failure to pay rent, etc. The tenant was the first one to create a paper trail of all of the incidents sending certified mail and also the return receipts to the landlord.
The return receipts did not appear in the tenant's mail box. The tenant also went to the main court and was very frustrated when informed him that they could not file anything against the landlord. The tenant was asked if he still lived in the unit. The tenant was very skeptical now as to whether the justice system was serving him properly.
The tenant had now spent rent for three months in which they had no heat among all the other problems and violations listed above. The tenant had even installed his own cable wiring and phone service wiring, as there was none in the property before he moved in. The tenant now has a security deposit bill from the PSE&G account for moving into the new property. They also have to wait for medical results to be certain they haven’t become ill from living in a property that was cold and moldy.
Is this a just solution? What was the problem here? The system can be worked if one knows all the ins and outs. Unfortunately you can't always do everything yourself and sometimes it pays to get the help of a tenant rights professional such as Sandy Hutchens.