Contact_High
New Member
Here's the situation. There is an old row house where there are 4 separate apartment units. The new tenant in the basement apartment has been smoking in their apartment (cigarettes, pot, incense and an unknown substance). The entire house smells of smoke and the unit right above the basement apartment gets very bad and sometimes gets a sort of haze because of the smoke. Neighbors in the next house over (connected row house) have complained repeatedly that smoke has permeated their basement. When asked about the smoking, the tenant denies it and attributes the smoke odors that everyone is smelling to incense that is being burned in the apartment.
Granted, the incense smoke is very strong and usually comes on strong right before or right after the smell of cigarettes or pot or the smell of burnt rubber/plastic is detected.
The lease specifically prohibits smoking inside the house and the use of illegal drugs.
The "super", who also lives in the house, is a long-time friend of the landlord and acts on behalf of the landlord/owner of the house. After complaints from the other tenants in the house and the neighbors, and after an incident when the smoking tenant caught a wooden planter of dried mulch on fire (attached to the house - used by the smoking tenant as an ash tray) just outside the backdoor of the house, the super finally instructed the smoking tenant to move out.
Now, neither the super nor the landlord provided an initial written notice of eviction, so the smoking tenant sought legal assistance. The super gave a verbal notice again to the smoking tenant after continued complaints. The smoking tenant continued to deny the accusations of smoking indoors as well as catching the wooden planter on fire. In addition, the smoking tenant informed the super that there is a lawsuit being filed against him and the landlord for harassment and wrongful eviction - suing for emotional distress, etc.
A side note, the smoking tenant smokes all night and has people going in and out of the apartment between the hours of 2am and 7am. The tenant has also put up cameras inside the apartment (according to the super, who saw them while speaking to the smoking tenant) as well as outside the back door of the apartment.
The tenant living right above the smoking tenant went down to request a stop to the smoking (on a particularly bad night of smoke, creating the "haze" in their apartment) and the smoking tenant accused the other of lying and demanded that they all meet right then in the above apartment with the super. They were shocked by the request and asked the smoking tenant if that was really necessary at 11:30pm. The smoking tenant then closed the door on them. The non-smoking tenant went back upstairs and called the super, who did not answer the phone. The non-smoking tenant went back downstairs and invited the smoking tenant upstairs to smell/see the smoke for themselves, talk about it and offered a beer. The smoking tenant refused and accused the non-smoking tenant of denying the initial request, mentioned the harassment lawsuit, instructed them to contact his attorney and then closed the door on them again.
The super and landlord are now working with an attorney and going through the proper legal channels. Meanwhile, the smoking tenant's attorney now states that the tenant living directly above the smoking tenant has been "recruited" by the super to join in the harassment of the smoking tenant and sites the non-smoking tenant's visit as proof of the harassment. In addition, the smoking tenant now claims that his girlfriend was witness to the non-smoking tenant placing cigarette butts in the wooden planter at 5am on the day the non-smoking tenant went downstairs to complain. It should also be noted that this incident was weeks after the wooden planter had actually caught fire.
These claims are completely outrageous and reflect the continued disturbing behavior by the smoking tenant.
What did the super/landlord do wrong, how far can the smoking tenant take this and is the super/landlord responsible to the other tenants in the house who are complaining about loss of sleep, second hand smoke and exposure to drugs and are demanding some kind of compensation?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Granted, the incense smoke is very strong and usually comes on strong right before or right after the smell of cigarettes or pot or the smell of burnt rubber/plastic is detected.
The lease specifically prohibits smoking inside the house and the use of illegal drugs.
The "super", who also lives in the house, is a long-time friend of the landlord and acts on behalf of the landlord/owner of the house. After complaints from the other tenants in the house and the neighbors, and after an incident when the smoking tenant caught a wooden planter of dried mulch on fire (attached to the house - used by the smoking tenant as an ash tray) just outside the backdoor of the house, the super finally instructed the smoking tenant to move out.
Now, neither the super nor the landlord provided an initial written notice of eviction, so the smoking tenant sought legal assistance. The super gave a verbal notice again to the smoking tenant after continued complaints. The smoking tenant continued to deny the accusations of smoking indoors as well as catching the wooden planter on fire. In addition, the smoking tenant informed the super that there is a lawsuit being filed against him and the landlord for harassment and wrongful eviction - suing for emotional distress, etc.
A side note, the smoking tenant smokes all night and has people going in and out of the apartment between the hours of 2am and 7am. The tenant has also put up cameras inside the apartment (according to the super, who saw them while speaking to the smoking tenant) as well as outside the back door of the apartment.
The tenant living right above the smoking tenant went down to request a stop to the smoking (on a particularly bad night of smoke, creating the "haze" in their apartment) and the smoking tenant accused the other of lying and demanded that they all meet right then in the above apartment with the super. They were shocked by the request and asked the smoking tenant if that was really necessary at 11:30pm. The smoking tenant then closed the door on them. The non-smoking tenant went back upstairs and called the super, who did not answer the phone. The non-smoking tenant went back downstairs and invited the smoking tenant upstairs to smell/see the smoke for themselves, talk about it and offered a beer. The smoking tenant refused and accused the non-smoking tenant of denying the initial request, mentioned the harassment lawsuit, instructed them to contact his attorney and then closed the door on them again.
The super and landlord are now working with an attorney and going through the proper legal channels. Meanwhile, the smoking tenant's attorney now states that the tenant living directly above the smoking tenant has been "recruited" by the super to join in the harassment of the smoking tenant and sites the non-smoking tenant's visit as proof of the harassment. In addition, the smoking tenant now claims that his girlfriend was witness to the non-smoking tenant placing cigarette butts in the wooden planter at 5am on the day the non-smoking tenant went downstairs to complain. It should also be noted that this incident was weeks after the wooden planter had actually caught fire.
These claims are completely outrageous and reflect the continued disturbing behavior by the smoking tenant.
What did the super/landlord do wrong, how far can the smoking tenant take this and is the super/landlord responsible to the other tenants in the house who are complaining about loss of sleep, second hand smoke and exposure to drugs and are demanding some kind of compensation?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.