Tired of your landlord? Take matters into your own hands

As tenants across the city grapple with slumlords, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition took steps to guide residents towards home ownership.

The continued wave of negligent property owners as listed in the public advocate’s “100 Worst Landlords Watchlist,” prompted the coalition to unveil five tenant and community-led models for housing and community development.

Elected officials, housing advocates and more than 200 Bronx residents gathered at the Andrew Freedman Home for the organization’s 51st annual meeting, dubbed “Our Bronx: We Plan It. Run It. Own It.”

The five models include 664-672 Beck St. in the South Bronx, 2201-2205 Davidson Ave. in University Heights, 785 E. Tremont Ave. in Crotona, the Aquinas Housing portfolio which includes more than 1,200 units across 46 buildings and the upcoming Belmont Washington project, expected to be built in 2026.

Each of the property models feature their own path to ownership for its tenants, such as exploring co-op and community land trusts, housing development fund corporations or a mix of each, to create a solutions for residents looking to own their property.

For example, the Aquinas Housing Portfolio’s path to ownership includes a combination of utilizing rental Housing Development Fund Corporations non-profit rental, cooperatives and community land trusts.

Community land trusts are nonprofit organizations typically governed by a board of residents, community members and public representatives to ensure community control and representation. 

Administered by the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, Housing Development Fund Corporations offer home ownership opportunities for low-income residents at a lower cost than market-rate housing, which refers to properties where residents pay rents or purchase prices determined by the open market.

Market rate-housing does not consist of subsidies or government assistance, contrary to affordable housing.

Dorothy Joseph who has lived at 2205 Davidson Ave. for more than 30 years, said the issues within her building have been a long-standing.

“These two residences (2201-2205 Davidson Ave.) have definitely been in decline for the past few years,” she said. “When there’s a problem, nothing gets fixed right away and sometimes these issues don’t get fixed at all.”

In the past few years, Joseph experienced a gas leak which seeped into her apartment and took months to fix. She also had water leaks in her bathroom, which have damaged the ceiling and still persist. She said she sees the pros and cons in property ownership for residents, a hot topic amongst her Davidson Avenue neighbors.

“The positive of homeownership would be residents assuming control of their homes and not being subject to illegal rent hikes or persistent issues which don’t seem to get resolved,” Joseph said.

A negative, she added, would be a lack of tenant participation when it comes to building repairs and other quality of life issues at the property.

“The question is – do enough residents have the same mentality and are they willing to put in work and time towards the maintenance of their homes,” she said. “It will take effort — but I think it’s worth it in the long run.”

Councilwoman Pierina Sanchez is in the process of passing the Housing Rescue and Resident Protection Act, also known as Int. 1063. If passed, it would make amendments to the Third Party Transfer program, which forecloses on financially and physically distressed properties and transfers those properties to a third party for rehabilitation

“For nearly a decade, tenants have endured inhumane living conditions, organizing tirelessly against an owner who owes over $28 million in municipal arrears and has hundreds of active violations,” Sanchez said. “I am extremely proud to have supported this remarkable effort — but our work does not end here.”

On March 4, residents of 2770-2780 Kingsbridge Terrace, accompanied by Sanchez and the coalition, celebrated a milestone victory after more than a decade of fighting against fraudulent rent increases and unlawful overcharges by property owner, Steve Finkelstein. He was forced to reimburse residents by the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

A Kingsbridge Terrace resident, Yaniset Estrella, who has lived in the same building for the past 30 years, said home ownership would be more cost-efficient for residents while improving maintenance and repairs on the premises.

“Home ownership would give us more control and not leave us to rely on a landlord who is negligent and doesn’t address repairs, let alone charge residents fraudulent rent increases,” she said.

Estrella, who lives with two of her three children, doesn’t see how owning would generate more problems than renting.

“At a moment when speculation, gentrification and climate change threaten to displace the people who built the Bronx, [the coalition] and our partners are scaling real solutions for tenant stability, affordability and community ownership,” Sandra Lobo said, the coalition’s executive director.

On the 2024 “Top 100 Worst Landlords Watchlist,” Barry Singer -- who owns 160 Kingsbridge Road and 3021 Heath Ave., both in the Kingsbridge neighborhood -- sits at number one with 1,084 violations across 199 units.