This report serves as documentation of events related to a rental property where I have lived since January 1, 2014.
For now I will decline to name the landlord or his management company. Depending on events, I may find it necessary to do so in future.
But I must say that after nearly ten years of living in substandard conditions, with an ever-increasing rent, now so high (since April, 2023) that it requires more than my monthly disability check to pay it, I want it known that I am dealing with a slumlord, who displays callous disregard for his tenants and thinks he can treat them like serfs on his plantation.
During my time here, I have heard the stories of other tenants, now long gone. Poor people, disabled people, people with young children, who were forced to leave because the landlord neglected to make repairs. They were living with toilets that do not flush, flooding inside their homes, floors that were cracked and sinking, septic tanks that were not properly pumped and maintained, the roofs leaking, bad water and bad plumbing....
I too have been living with such horrible conditions. I have documented all of these conditions, I have reported them to the landlord's office, by telephone and by certified return receipt letters. All of which have been disregarded.
But what he clearly does not know is that where I am concerned, I can guarantee that he picked the wrong woman if he thinks he can intimidate me with his bluster and bullying tactics.
I publish this report for my own protection. I find it necessary to have it on the public record that I have been targeted for invasions of privacy, harassment, and threats by tenants (known and unknown) on this property, and by the landlord and his hirelings from his office.
I have spoken to pro bono legal counsel serving the elderly, the disabled and the poor, all of which categories I fit in, and have been advised. I know my rights. I know that there are no legal grounds whatsoever for any complaints to be made against me, by the landlord, or by his workers, or by tenants on this property.
I have always paid the rent on time, no exceptions, for which I have evidence.
I have never at any time caused any disturbances on this property, nor committed any offenses, civil or criminal, against anyone.
No legal action has been taken by the landlord or by me. If he chooses such a path of action then I will respond with my own action, yet to be determined.
I have suffered grievous damages and am now at risk of worse damages, and am under threat of losing my home, being forced out due to fraudulent complaints by tenants and the landlord's office. I am now living in a hostile environment, through no fault of my own.
I have done nothing whatsoever which could possibly justify these false and unwarranted complaints, the slander against my good name, or the threats and harassment directed against me.
LANDLORD CITED BY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
The Health Department recently visited this property. The Building Department contacted them after they visited my home at my request, due to the unsafe and substandard conditions for which the landlord provided no relief.
I was told by the inspector from the Health Department that there was a “health hazard” on my rental property. He was very clear that I had every reason to be concerned for my safety and that the landlord would be cited for violations of the code. (More detail will be given later or in future reports.)
I had been patiently waiting for the landlord to rectify the situation for over a year. I had sent several letters with specific complaints about the conditions, starting in September, 2022. But it only grew worse and worse and nothing was ever done, despite false promises by the management.
Meanwhile, he raised the rent, even though he did nothing to make the property habitable.
In desperation, with no relief in sight, I finally called the authorities in the town of Rhinebeck, because after more than a year of making complaints in writing and by telephone, nothing was done to rectify the substandard conditions from which I was suffering and which I had duly reported to the landlord's office.
The landlord's office had acknowledged the need for renovation of the plumbing, the septic system, and the entire bathroom, over a year ago, but all my subsequent letters were ignored and nothing was ever done. I was told in September, 2023 in a phone call from the landlord's office that these jobs were scheduled for “early October”.
(Note the date: it is now past “early October”. No calls, nothing scheduled, nothing done.)
The landlord has been negligent in making necessary repairs for the entire time I have lived here. The property has been deteriorating over time and is now unfit for habitation.
INCIDENT OF HARASSMENT & THREATS BY LANDLORD
The latest event occurred on October 11, 2023. At 8:30 AM there was knocking on the door. I was sleeping at that time. I do not ever answer my door unless I am expecting someone, so I ignored it. A few minutes later there was more aggressive banging on the door. I ignored it.
After the fourth time of loud banging, I went to the door but did not open it. I was dressed in night clothes, as I was woken from my sleep by the intrusion. I spoke through the closed door, asking, Who is it?
The landlord identified himself. I told him that I am not available. He had been notified several times, in certified return receipt letters to his office, as well as in telephone conversations, that I require a minimum of 24 hours notice if I am to be available for a service visit. He was well aware of this, but chose to disregard it, repeatedly, with no respect for my privacy or my rights as a tenant.
I told him there was no notice given and that I was not available. There is a notice posted on my door:
NO TRESPASSING
NO SOLICITING
SERVICE VISITS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
This very notice was included in a recent letter sent to his office in September, 2023. Yet he disregarded it with no respect whatsoever for my rights.
There is no excuse whatsoever for him to invade my privacy or violate my rights by banging on my door, shouting at me and demanding to be let in. This is harassment, and even qualifies as menacing, considering his threats.
I told him he must make an appointment and directed him to leave.
He refused to leave and all the while he was shouting at me through the door in a hostile tone and making a scene on the property, disturbing the peace.
He yelled, “I've been trying to reach you!”
That is a falsehood. He had never responded to any of my formal complaints by letter, including the latest. As I discovered later that day, I had received a voicemail from him at 7:30 AM that morning, while my phone was turned off, asking me to call him, that it was “important”.
A phone call, one hour before an unannounced visit, in the early morning, is not acceptable. I was not available. In fact I was sleeping when he first came to the door.
He continued shouting demands that I let him in, and banging on the door, but I refused to open the door. This behavior is outrageous! I have never in my life seen anything like it.
He continued shouting outside and claimed that he had received complaints from 4 different tenants claiming that I was “harassing” them.
He shouted that he has “30 e-mails” from these unidentified tenants making these claims. He shouted at me, “You have been harassing them!”
No, I most certainly had done no such thing, but I was not about to be provoked into having a point-counterpoint argument through a door with a person behaving like a lunatic. I only said that these are false complaints.
He shouted, “They are all against you, I am the only one standing up for you. Everyone is against you!”
This is absurd. If in fact he was standing up for me, as he claims, why is he harassing me and attempting to intimidate me (which can't be done); why has he not even acknowledged any of my complaints of actual harassment and false complaints by his tenants?
And I don't give a tinker's damn who among his hostile tenants is “against” me. My only concern is the facts and the law. If liars decide to make false complaints it's nothing to do with me, but I will not tolerate harassment and threats from the landlord because of it.
Here are the facts:
I do not know any of the tenants on this property except for those in two (2) houses on either side of my house, with whom I am on perfectly good terms.
There is one tenant across the way, one Tracy Krawitt, on the other side of the property, who has made false complaints against me on more than one occasion.
I do not know her, she is a total stranger. I have never harassed her in any way. However, she has been an aggressor against me. She made a false police report (a criminal offense) in 2019, lying to the police in her claims that I had "threatened to kill" her.
This, after a disturbance entirely of her own making, outside my house, as she and her associate were driving large commercial vehicles, shouting and coming close to hitting my car. No such threats were made by me. Krawitt is a habitual liar.
She later made a number of false complaints to the landlord's office, lying again that I had trespassed into her yard. I have never, at any time, trespassed into any yard on this property.
I called Dog Control to stop Krawitt from disturbing the peace. She is the negligent, irresponsible owner of a dog that was howling all hours of the day and night.
The fact is, since 2019, Krawitt has committed civil and criminal offenses against Barbara Hartwell. She is the only aggressor, the only offender. I am the only injured party who has sustained damages. I have published several reports exposing this woman, in my own defense. (See reports at bottom of page.)
As for other tenants making false complaints against me of “harassment”, I do not know any one of these individuals, nor have I ever spoken to them at any time, nor have had any interactions with them. I have never harassed anyone on this property, in any way, shape or form.
These liars are clearly accomplices of Tracy Krawitt who are acting in malice by making false complaints and slandering Barbara Hartwell in order to try to force me out of my home. They (whoever they are) have created a hostile environment on the property which prevents me from the “quiet enjoyment” to which I am entitled as a tenant.
The landlord has shown that he is in collusion with these offenders, by falsely accusing me of offenses I have not committed. He has shown a clear bias against me which is totally unwarranted.
More harassment, threats and hostile shouting from outside my door by the landlord:
"You are going to talk to me right now!"
I don't take orders from him. Who does he think he is?
"What, have you got a board meeting going on in there?"
AS IF it is any of his business why I am not available when he has not given proper notice and thinks he can just barge his way in any time he pleases. No, he cannot. He is entirely in the wrong.
"You don't want to be in an adversarial relationship with me!"
No, I would rather not be in an adversarial relationship. But he has made the choice, as an aggressor against me, engaging in intimidation tactics, harassment and threats, to declare himself my adversary. His message is loud and clear. He wants an adversary, he's got one. One who will never back down but will fight for justice.
"We are either going to work together or else you will not be able to stay here!"
He thinks he can just show up at my door, with no prior notice, banging, harassing, threatening me, and that will force me to talk to him, or “work with him”? No, it does not work that way. Nobody intimidates me.
"I had to drive an hour to get here!"
Meaning: his time is valuable, mine is not. As I have stated in letters to his office, my time is no less valuable than his, nor any of his workers. He has no right to expect that I am available any time he decides will suit his convenience, no matter the inconvenience to me.
He was shouting, threatening eviction.
On what grounds? He has no grounds whatsoever.
He said he has to do the renovation and the tenant can't be on the property. He should have done the renovation long ago. He is to blame, not I, for the fact that he has been cited for violations and now will be forced to rectify the situation.
He can't just force me off the property so he can do his renovation, just because the Health Department has now cited him for violations. That is not my fault. He and he alone is to blame. I am the victim, as the tenant who has been forced to live in substandard conditions due to his negligence.
I told him that I will not tolerate this disrespectful treatment. He yelled that I was the one who was disrespectful, which is an outrageous lie.
Defending myself against his aggression is not disrespect.
Holding him accountable to rectify substandard conditions, under which I am suffering and forced to pay for, is not disrespect.
Telling him he has no right to come pounding on my door and demanding to be let in, and that he must make an appointment, is not disrespect.
Standing up for myself against his false accusations and those of his tenants is not disrespect.
It is he, and he alone, who is disrespectful. And it will not be tolerated.
Is he living in a fantasy world? A world where he is the Lord of All He Surveys and his tenants are serfs on his plantation, to be subservient to his every whim.
It is none of his business why I am not available at his whim.
More arrogant statements, shouted through the door:
"I have million dollar properties, I don't care about a few thousand dollars!"
So what? His boasting about his million dollar properties has nothing to do with me or the rental for which I am paying. It is a totally irrelevant issue.
He's made it clear he cares nothing about his tenants, or the condition of the property. He doesn't care about anything, except getting his money. But his tenants don't get the value they are paying for, that is not a problem for him. Not until the Health Department shows up to cite him for violations. Then, he has a problem. And blames it on an innocent tenant.
He shouted that he will call the Health Department, and report that I will not let him in.
If he had given proper notice, as he is required to do, I would have made myself available to let him in, at a mutually convenient time, that is. Again it is all on him, and I have done nothing wrong.
He shouted, in a state of apparent hysteria: “If you think you are so smart, I am smarter than you!”
Where this idiotic comment came from, I have no clue. He is free to believe in his fantasies about his own intelligence, but this is completely irrelevant to the issues at hand.
Then, a truly unbelievable and outrageous false accusation, delivered in a snide and mocking tone: He claimed there were “mental health issues” because I would not let him in.
Only a moron would make such an accusation. And he is the one behaving like a lunatic, shouting and making a scene outside my house. It is likely he has some “mental health issues.” Like maybe, delusions of grandeur and omnipotence, that he can get away with forcing his will on others. Unbelievable!
He
shouted, “I will go knock on doors right now!”, of those tenants
who claimed harassment.
What did he expect to happen? That they would form a lynch mob? That they would come out brandishing pitchforks and torches? A real life witch hunt, with all the drama!
I finally told him to get out of here, leave. Just do what you have to do and I will do what I have to do. Next time, make an appointment.
He left, hurling insults and laughing at what he seemed to think was his own cleverness.
Frankly,
I don't think he's very bright, if he believes this is the way to
deal with his tenants, harassing and bullying them into submission. It may work with some, but never with me.
He thinks he can just disregard the rights of people who are forced to live in substandard conditions because he doesn't concern himself with anything but money (his “million dollar properties”), while he rips off the tenants and fails to maintain the property. He lacks the most common decency and concern for others.
But before I wrap up this report, just a few more comments, including excerpts from a letter to an attorney who is advising me.
GENERAL ISSUES:
Failure to make necessary repairs in a timely manner, or not at all.
Failure to provide proper maintenance of property on an ongoing basis (inside and outside).
Disregarding Tenant's complaints, both by phone and by letter, including certified return receipt, over a period of years. I have never received a response to any letter.
The only way to get anything done is to keep calling the office repeatedly. Unless it is an emergency (overflowing toilet, water backing up under the sink, roof leaking, etc.) he will do nothing at all. Unacceptable conditions persist for months with no relief.
Failure to notify Tenant before sending workers for maintenance/repairs. I have made it clear in writing and by telephone, repeatedly, that I require minimum 24 hours notice if workers need access to my house. No one is to enter my home when I am not there, unless by explicit permission. I have explained that I am disabled, that I do not keep 'regular' hours, that I work at home, that I have an indoor cat who is afraid of strangers, and that I am entitled to my privacy and reasonable notice.
Yet he sends workers when convenient only for him. In most cases I do not allow them access, as I am not prepared to make myself available. Then his employees from the office try to place the blame on me in the false belief that I must be available 24/7 or suffer the deprivation of necessary repairs.
Allowing the property to become a hostile environment for Tenant by failing to control aggressive/violative behavior of other tenants.
Such as:
Tenants creating regular disturbances on property which disturb the peace and/or pose a threat to Tenant.
Harassment by tenants against Tenant.
Tenants making false complaints to landlord's office against Tenant, which results in false complaints against Tenant by landlord's office. This is harassment by landlord.
Landlord has been advised (in writing and by phone) that I will not be interrogated, nor my privacy invaded by his office, that the false complaints are made by liars, and there is no actual cause for bias against me.
I have always paid the rent on time, no exceptions.
I have never, at any time, caused any kind of disturbance on the property.
I have always been quiet and respectful of others on the property.
I have never entered any tenant's yard or home, except by invitation or explicit permission.
The landlord's office refuses to name the person(s) who made the false complaints, but have falsely cited me for offenses I have not committed as a result of this.
In general, I have been prevented from my right to quiet enjoyment of the rental property for which I am paying a high rent by the landlord's failure to make repairs and the hostile environment created by other tenants.
*********
I understand that this type of report may not be of interest to my regular readers. However, this website is the only venue I have to make reports on issues of concern to me.
This harassment has caused extreme stress as well as emotional distress for me and has negatively affected my health.
I have spent this entire day since the harassment by the landlord at 8:30 AM on the phone with attorneys, the Health Department and others who have all been apprised of the situation.
I want this on the record in my own defense, as I have no idea what any of these hostile individuals might do out of malice against me.
I will continue to report on these issues with updates as they happen.
All I ever wanted and had every reasonable expectation of having is the quiet enjoyment of the rental property for which I am paying.
This includes habitable living conditions and an end to all harassment.
I intend to have that, whatever it takes.
I intend to pursue justice and hold all offending parties accountable for their actions.
Let this be a warning to any such parties (named and unnamed) that I will pursue any and all lawful and ethical means to protect my rights and in my own defense.
They are hereby warned: CEASE & DESIST
Barbara Hartwell
Injured Party Under Threat in Hostile Environment
October 11, 2023
RELATED REPORTS
CONTINUED HARASSMENT, SLANDER, FALSE COMPLAINTS & INVASIONS OF PRIVACY ON RHINEBECK PROPERTY BY UNSCRUPULOUS TENANT TRACY KRAWITT
http://barbarahartwellvscia.blogspot.com/2023/08/additional-harassment-slander-false.html
FORMAL COMPLAINT AGAINST TENANT TRACY KRAWITT TO LANDLORD OF RHINEBECK PROPERTY
https://barbarahartwellvscia.blogspot.com/2023/02/formal-complaint-against-tenant-tracy.html
MULTIPLE OFFENDER, HABITUAL LIAR TRACY KRAWITT MAKES ADDITIONAL FALSE ACCUSATIONS, SLANDERS BARBARA HARTWELL IN REPORT TO LANDLORD ON RENTAL PROPERTY
https://barbarahartwellvscia.blogspot.com/2023/02/multiple-offender-habitual-liar-tracy.html
HELLISH HOWLING & HARASSMENT: Brought to My Neighborhood by Scofflaw, Liar Tracy Krawitt & Associates
http://barbarahartwellvscia.blogspot.com/2023/02/hellish-howling-harassment-brought-to.html
Tracy Krawitt, Irresponsible Owner of Howling Dog, Causes Constant Noise Disturbance on Rhinebeck Property
http://barbarahartwellvscia.blogspot.com/2022/04/tracy-krawitt-irresponsible-owner-of.html
Tracy Krawitt (aka SPACEY TRACY), the Neighbor from Hell: FORMAL COMPLAINT TO POLICE & COMMENTARY
https://barbarahartwellvscia.blogspot.com/2020/01/tracy-krawitt-aka-spacey-tracy-neighbor.html