So my apartment building is collapsing with everything I own inside

[obeseotron]

So earlier this week my roomates and I were told we needed to immediately vacate our apartment and to grab what we needed for the next week or two because the building needed immediate structural repair. We had less than 3 minutes to grab things and what we took were things like clothes and books for summer classes because we assumed we would be let back in at some point. Turns out the building is in much worse shape than they initially realized and is on the verge of completely collapsing and will be torn down if it doesn't fall down first. It has been totally sealed off by the FDNY, locks changed etc. Everything we own is inside and we have been told that we probably won't get a chance to take any of it out before the building is demolished. Our landlord laughed at us when we asked if there was somewhere else he could put us up while this went on. I had to move back in with my parents and one of my roomates is staying with me because he has no where to go.

Normally I find the culture of litigation in America pretty despicable, but I think this is a long way off from burning yourself with hot coffee. Regardless of the relevant laws what do you guys think is fair compensation for losing everything because your landlord was too cheap to put some the very high manhattan rent he collected towards assuring a structurally sound building? At the very least I've been thinking about the market value of everything in the apartment plus all the rent we've paid under a lease whose terms have been violated by our landlord. The architect and firemen we talked to about it said that the building could have easily fallen down at any time killing everyone inside. What would you accept as compensation for something like this?

 

[Otaking]

Did you happen to get renters' insurance?

 

Talk to a lawyer ASAP.

EDIT: Given the OP's user name, I'm not surprised at the structural condition of his building.

:laugh:

 

[montanafan]

Did you get renter's insurance? If so, they'll take care of it and him. If not, he certainly has insurance and it usually covers renters' losses.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: Otaking
Did you happen to get renters' insurance?

 

[JoeKing]

Sue the property owner for the amout of rent you've paid up to the point of having to leave, the deposit, and whatever you think your stuff is worth (make an itemized list), hire lawyer.

Next move in with landlord and tell him to STFU.

 

[Saulbadguy]

I can't wait for the moment the renter says he does NOT have renters insurance.

 

[obeseotron]

Nope. no insurance on anything. It's just three college students trying to afford to live in NYC, we never even thought about it. We have been speaking to lawyers, and making lists.

Edit: I'm 6'0" and 200lbs, hardly slim, but not quite up to my username. It's just an old inside joke from junior high.

 

Originally posted by: obeseotron
Nope. no insurance on anything. It's just three college students trying to afford to live in NYC, we never even thought about it. We have been speaking to lawyers, and making lists.

Renter's insurance is a steal (~$50 - $100 a year). You should be sorry you didn't have it.

 

[notfred]

I'd go get my stuff. Break the door down, it's gonig to fall over anyway.

 

[montanafan]

Get it next time. Like jumpr said, a year's premium is very cheap.

 

[MX2]

Pics of the building?

 

Originally posted by: notfred
I'd go get my stuff. Break the door down, it's gonig to fall over anyway.

That's a surfire way to be charged with breaking and entering. It doesn't matter if it's "your" apartment. Your landlord owns it and the city says you can't go in. It's illegal to enter the place.

Notfred's just trying to be a hardass. Insulted any "safety officers" lately, Tyler?

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: notfred
I'd go get my stuff. Break the door down, it's gonig to fall over anyway.

That's a surfire way to be charged with breaking and entering. It doesn't matter if it's "your" apartment. Your landlord owns it and the city says you can't go in. It's illegal to enter the place.

Notfred's just trying to be a hardass. Insulted any "safety officers" lately, Tyler?

It's only a surefire way to get charged with breaking and entering if you get caught. If you don't think you can do it without getting caught, don't do it. Considering that almost no one ever gets caught even when stealing from occupied buildings, it'd probably be pretty easy to get away with breaking into a vacant one.

You can lose thousnads of dollars worth of stuff due to a door being locked if you want. I'd go get my stuff.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: notfred
I'd go get my stuff. Break the door down, it's gonig to fall over anyway.

That's a surfire way to be charged with breaking and entering. It doesn't matter if it's "your" apartment. Your landlord owns it and the city says you can't go in. It's illegal to enter the place.

Notfred's just trying to be a hardass. Insulted any "safety officers" lately, Tyler?

Bah, I doubt he'd get convicted if he said he was trying to get his pictures of his dead grandmother. I'd break in too. The building is no less safe than it was the last night the OP slept in it, only difference is he knows about it now.

 

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: notfred
I'd go get my stuff. Break the door down, it's gonig to fall over anyway.

That's a surfire way to be charged with breaking and entering. It doesn't matter if it's "your" apartment. Your landlord owns it and the city says you can't go in. It's illegal to enter the place.

Notfred's just trying to be a hardass. Insulted any "safety officers" lately, Tyler?

It's only a surefire way to get charged with breaking and entering if you get caught. If you don't think you can do it without getting caught, don't do it. Considering that almost no one ever gets caught even when stealing from occupied buildings, it'd probably be pretty easy to get away with breaking into a vacant one.

You can lose thousnads of dollars worth of stuff due to a door being locked if you want. I'd go get my stuff.

I wouldn't "lose" my stuff; I would simply pursue different (legal) avenues to get it back.

You DO realize that if he breaks into the building and is caught, he'll NEVER see his stuff again, right? Not worth the risk to me.

 

[eigen]

You wouldnt get charged with B&E because you didnt have to break anything to gain acess.Trespass at most.Seriously I would break in.I would have no choice but to break in and get as much as possible.I couldnt afford to start over.Do you have computers etc ..How is renters insurance supposed to account for data loss.

 

Originally posted by: eigen
You wouldnt get charged with B&E because you didnt have to break anything to gain acess.Trespass at most.Seriously I would break in.I would have no choice but to break in and get as much as possible.I couldnt afford to start over.Do you have computers etc ..How is renters insurance supposed to account for data loss.

The locks were changed on the building (as stated in the OP). He would most certainly have to break in if he wanted to enter the building.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Even with insurance it would be a HUGE pain in the ass. Do you have any idea how long it took me to track down some of the books in my library? It would take me years to duplicate it. Insurance or not, I'd find some way to get my stuff or they'd be compensating me for the time it will take to replace it all as well.

ZV

 

[Anubis]

break back in and get your stuff

 

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Even with insurance it would be a HUGE pain in the ass. Do you have any idea how long it took me to track down some of the books in my library? It would take me years to duplicate it. Insurance or not, I'd find some way to get my stuff or they'd be compensating me for the time it will take to replace it all as well.

ZV

I'd certainly attempt to get into the building via legal avenues, but I sure as hell wouldn't break into a building that's been sealed off by the city if I ever wanted to see my stuff again.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: notfred
I'd go get my stuff. Break the door down, it's gonig to fall over anyway.

That's a surfire way to be charged with breaking and entering. It doesn't matter if it's "your" apartment. Your landlord owns it and the city says you can't go in. It's illegal to enter the place.

Notfred's just trying to be a hardass. Insulted any "safety officers" lately, Tyler?

It's only a surefire way to get charged with breaking and entering if you get caught. If you don't think you can do it without getting caught, don't do it. Considering that almost no one ever gets caught even when stealing from occupied buildings, it'd probably be pretty easy to get away with breaking into a vacant one.

You can lose thousnads of dollars worth of stuff due to a door being locked if you want. I'd go get my stuff.

I wouldn't "lose" my stuff; I would simply pursue different (legal) avenues to get it back.

You DO realize that if he breaks into the building and is caught, he'll NEVER see his stuff again, right? Not worth the risk to me.

He might get money to replace it, but it doesn't sound very likely that he'll be getting any of HIS stuff back. If I had anything that was "irreplaceable," I'd get that. I wouldn't be trying to move my furniture out or anything, just small stuff.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: notfred
I'd go get my stuff. Break the door down, it's gonig to fall over anyway.

That's a surfire way to be charged with breaking and entering. It doesn't matter if it's "your" apartment. Your landlord owns it and the city says you can't go in. It's illegal to enter the place.

Notfred's just trying to be a hardass. Insulted any "safety officers" lately, Tyler?

It's only a surefire way to get charged with breaking and entering if you get caught. If you don't think you can do it without getting caught, don't do it. Considering that almost no one ever gets caught even when stealing from occupied buildings, it'd probably be pretty easy to get away with breaking into a vacant one.

You can lose thousnads of dollars worth of stuff due to a door being locked if you want. I'd go get my stuff.

I wouldn't "lose" my stuff; I would simply pursue different (legal) avenues to get it back.

You DO realize that if he breaks into the building and is caught, he'll NEVER see his stuff again, right? Not worth the risk to me.

If you want to pursue legal methods to get your stuff back, fine. Hopefully they don't bulldoze the building while you wait for your court date. Hopefully your lawyer doesn't end up costing more than your stuff is worth.

Even if he broke in and did get caught, how would that make his own stuff any less his? Maybe he could get a breaking and entering conviction, which would suck, but that wouldn't cause him to give up any other legal rights to pursue getting his stuff back.

 

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: notfred
I'd go get my stuff. Break the door down, it's gonig to fall over anyway.

That's a surfire way to be charged with breaking and entering. It doesn't matter if it's "your" apartment. Your landlord owns it and the city says you can't go in. It's illegal to enter the place.

Notfred's just trying to be a hardass. Insulted any "safety officers" lately, Tyler?

It's only a surefire way to get charged with breaking and entering if you get caught. If you don't think you can do it without getting caught, don't do it. Considering that almost no one ever gets caught even when stealing from occupied buildings, it'd probably be pretty easy to get away with breaking into a vacant one.

You can lose thousnads of dollars worth of stuff due to a door being locked if you want. I'd go get my stuff.

I wouldn't "lose" my stuff; I would simply pursue different (legal) avenues to get it back.

You DO realize that if he breaks into the building and is caught, he'll NEVER see his stuff again, right? Not worth the risk to me.

He might get money to replace it, but it doesn't sound very likely that he'll be getting any of HIS stuff back. If I had anything that was "irreplaceable," I'd get that. I wouldn't be trying to move my furniture out or anything, just small stuff.

And you'd break down doors and break seals placed by the City of New York to get it? Depending on the state, it can be a felony.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Even with insurance it would be a HUGE pain in the ass. Do you have any idea how long it took me to track down some of the books in my library? It would take me years to duplicate it. Insurance or not, I'd find some way to get my stuff or they'd be compensating me for the time it will take to replace it all as well.

ZV

I'd certainly attempt to get into the building via legal avenues, but I sure as hell wouldn't break into a building that's been sealed off by the city if I ever wanted to see my stuff again.

Depends. It's a desperation move. I'd sure as hell do it if the building were coming down the next day and I still hadn't gotten my stuff out.

ZV

EDIT: Felony or not, I'd find some way to get my books out.