I have decided to create my Intervention Project as a poster to create awareness for those who live in my apartment building. My apartment building was built in 1900s, and it has a railroad style building. When you come to the property and explore the inside, it is apparent that the building has not been taken care of and shoddy work has been done to replace fading paint or broken interior such as staircases or doors. Our landlord does not communicate well with tenants and will wait for weeks on end to fix issues that would be easy for him but costly for residents to source on their own.
The direct action I am taking to achieve my goal is to create awareness among the people in my apartment building by informing them that the lack of intervention and maintenance is against their rights and actions allowed by the government that will be protected in court. Through my poster, I hope to inspire and comfort those who are living in the same situation as me that there are actions they can take if their issues have been neglected.
“Politics is about people’s perceptions of the truth, their feelings about facts, and their visceral experiences of the world,” (Art of Activism).
This is a powerful quote that led me to choose this issue for my intervention project because we are all living under the same conditions while being neglected by the owner of the building while also feeling the same frustration about the state of our day to day living.
I utilized the Tenants’ Rights in New Jersey: A legal Manual for tenants in New Jersey written by Legal Services of New Jersey Legal Services of NJ, which should be read by all students who are moving out of their parents’ household. Chapter 6 informed me that all landlords have a duty to keep the warranty of habitability which is to keep basic elements of your housing unit in good condition throughout your stay. This class led me to realize that I should be asking more from my landlord and not to just be docile as a tenant when it comes to issues that should be easily fixed and handled without difficulty.
If my building’s water does shut off, this will be an issue for all the tenants and now I know the legal guidelines to act. Before I can take any legal remedies, I must
1. “1. The defect must be of “vital facility.” Vital facilities are those things necessary to make the rental unit habitable. Examples of defects to vital facilities include broken toilets, no hot or cold water, lack of heat or electricity or broken windows.
2. The tenant must not have caused the condition.
3. The tenant must have notified the landlord that the deficient condition existed and
allowed the landlord adequate time to fix the defect. Notice should be given in writing and by certified mail, return receipt requested.”
From there, I can either
1) Self-help remedy of the repair and deduct the cost from the rent
2) Break the lease without penalties because the landlord will be deemed as neglectful or default for not making the apartment habitable.
3) Withhold rent or portion of the rent because of the deficient condition.
4) Fight for rent abatement, where I can receive my security deposit back or all the rent paid by proving that the landlord breached his obligation as a landlord.
5) Send my rent to a court-appointed administrator that will be used to remedy defective conditions.
Citations:
NJ Department of Community Affairs. (n.d.).
Www.nj.gov. https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/codes/offices/landlord_tenant_information.html
Tenants’ Rights Tenants’ Rights in New Jersey in New Jersey A legal manual for tenants in New Jersey Written and published by Written and published by Legal Services of New Jersey Legal Services of New Jersey. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2024, from https://proxy.lsnj.org/rcenter/GetPublicDocument/Sites/LAW/Documents/Publications/Manuals/TenantsRights.pdf
Lambert, S. (2021). ART OF ACTIVISM : your all-purpose guide to making the impossible possible. Or Books.
No comments:
Post a Comment