Tenants at 930 Prospect Place have been fighting for repairs and adequate heat for nearly a decade. Their landlord, Seth Miller, consistently appears on New York City’s Worst Landlord Watchlist. Residents have formed a strong tenant association in the building in order to coordinate demands for repairs, and during the early days of the pandemic they implemented a rent strike to force Miller to follow through on promised repairs. Because lack of heat is such a persistent issue, many of the tenants received Heat Seek sensors and began documenting the temperature in their apartments during this time.
In August, the first tenants were due in housing court to negotiate repairs, end their rent strike and repay any back rent owed. In addition to heat, tenants were fighting to resolve persistent hot water outages; dangerous mold; rats, roaches, and bedbugs; and a broken lock on the building's front door that compromised building security. The tenants asked for a rent abatement of 40% to compensate for years of neglect, as well as a commitment to make all necessary repairs in the building.
In the lead up to the trial, Miller’s attorneys refused to negotiate a resolution directly with the tenants. Instead, they offered a paltry 20% rent abatement. However, on the day of the trial, a tenant overheard a phone call between the landlord and his attorney during which the attorney lamented “They’re prepared, they brought a ton of data, and they have 14 people here supporting them. You’re not going to win this”. Miller finally agreed to settle.
With the support of their tenant association, tenant organizers at Brooklyn Eviction Defense, and their Heat Seek data, the tenants were able to secure a 37% rent abatement, much larger than a typical rent abatement in housing court. Because of how long they’d been on strike, the abatement translated to over twenty-two thousand dollars back in their pockets. Furthermore, they obtained a commitment from the landlord to make all the repairs they asked for, and negotiated an access date for repairs to begin.
After so much neglect, the tenants are not optimistic that Seth Miller will follow through on his commitment to make repairs in the building. However, they are continuing to document the temperature in their building with Heat Seek, and are prepared to take him back to court on contempt if necessary.
Tenants shouldn’t have to fight this hard to get basic repairs in their buildings. Adequate heat is a right for all New Yorkers, and no one should have to suffer through a winter without heat. Heat Seek is immensely proud to stand with tenants as they stand up to bad landlords and demand their right to safe, healthy housing.