This insider's view of how the landlord-tenant relationship really works reexamines the commonly held notion that landlords are greedy, money grubbing, and heartless slumlords preying on their tenants. Author Carl Rosenberg, a long time landlord, details why landlords can seemingly turn nasty without anyone knowing the reasons; why city agencies fall short in helping to resolve disputes; how judges and administrative judges often render unfair decisions, and why, on occasion, tenants deserve a slap on the wrist- and sometimes more. Join a fair but hardened landlord as he concentrates on a small minority of troublemakers who have made his life interesting and occasionally downright miserable. He also explains how he navigated the complex world of buying and managing real estate in New York and, though she is not mentioned too often, how his wife played a major role. It's time to re-analyze the many assumptions made about landlords. You'll see that many negative opinions about landlords are wrong. There are some bad ones out there, but when you get right down to it, Landlords Are People Too. Landlords Are People Too A Tongue-in-Cheek Memoir of a Landlord in the Big Apple By Carl Rosenberg iUniverse, Inc. Copyright © 2012 Carl Rosenberg All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4620-6388-8 Contents Acknowledgements:...............................................viiIntroduction....................................................ixChapter One The First Purchase..................................1Chapter Two The Water Meter.....................................8Chapter Three Brooklyn..........................................11Chapter Four The Garage.........................................25Chapter Five TheVisionaries.....................................30Chapter Six Key Story#1.........................................33Chapter Seven The Steemheds.....................................36Chapter Eight The Grassy Knoll..................................38Chapter Nine Ecb Story#1........................................42Chapter Ten Ecb Story#2.........................................45Chapter Eleven The Kempt Sisters................................48Chapter Twelve Bedbugs..........................................51Chapter Thirteen The Commercial Bonanza.........................52Chapter Fourteen The Medical Office.............................59Chapter Fifteen Mr. Ratinvyte...................................62Chapter Sixteen Roosevelt And Tiger.............................65Chapter Seventeen The Lost Refrigerator.........................69Chapter Eighteen Miss Deception.................................73Chapter Nineteen The Internet Cafe..............................76Chapter Twenty The Tax Abatement................................78Chapter Twenty-One The Trap Door................................82Chapter Twenty-Two Doctor Notrew................................88Chapter Twenty-Three The Light Switch...........................91Chapter Twenty-Four The Squatters...............................95Chapter Twenty-Five The Sign Campaign...........................99Chapter Twenty Six Short-Term Rental............................102Chapter Twenty-Seven The One-Family House.......................107Chapter Twenty-Eight The Non-Payment Action.....................131Chapter Twenty-Nine John Dewover................................134Chapter Thirty Mass Destruction.................................136Chapter Thirty-One Mrs. Cheetem.................................143Chapter Thirty-Two The Devil....................................147 Chapter One THE FIRST PURCHASE In 1975 the economy in New York was in horrible shape. Interest rates were sky high. Capital gains tax, the tax you pay when you make a profit from a real estate sale was close to 40%. Though dying to sell, this exorbitant rate discouraged most property owners from selling their buildings and buying new ones. First time buyers were waiting for a better market and construction was at a standstill. In short, the market stunk. Despite this gloomy picture I never stopped thinking about the skyscrapers I saw when we sailed into the New York Harbor. I made up my mind that, one day soon I'd buy one of them. But, before realizing my dream, I had to have more than $5,000 to my name. I didn't have a profession and I was too proud to work for anybody. Luckily, my wife was a designer and seamstress. I took advantage of this by finding a small space to rent and rounding up some dress manufacturers who hired us to sew dresses for them. For the next three and a half years, we put aside as much money as possible. One weekend in 1979, while I was walking my dog, I saw a sign that read "Commercial building for sale. Owner will finance." The property in question was an empty building in a high-traffic area of Queens, close to our sewing factory. I decided to check it out. It wasn't a skyscraper, but I was ready to buy it, even if it was a teeny-weeny bit smaller. The own