In an effort to embarrass his tenants who were allegedly not paying rent, a New York landlord resorted to hanging a banner announcing “my first floor tenants don’t pay rent”. Tenants Marie and Eugene Lamour and their daughter Kathia have long lived in Calvin and Jean Thompson’s two-family home in New York City. However, the Thompsons raised the rent from $1,800 to $1,900 last July, which the Lamours did not approve of, the New York Post reported.
Since the Lamours did not want to pay the 5% increase, Kathia tried to solve the problem by “depositing $1,800 in rent” instead of paying the new amount. But according to Kathia, the owners refused to accept the amount. Angered by this, the tenants then stopped paying the rent.
Now the Thompsons have charged their tenants with owing them $17,000 in rent. Speaking of the rent hike, Thompson’s son, Calvin Junior, said, “I don’t think a $100 increase for nearly a decade of life is reasonable.” Apparently, the Thompsons even started the process to evict the family but were unable to do so due to nearly 2 lakh pending eviction cases in the city.
Finally, having no other choice to solve the problem, the Thompsons hung a banner outside the house to shame the tenants. “The signs are very embarrassing and shameful for them,” Calvin Junior said. He added that their method seemed to affect the Lamours. According to him, Kathia once tried to cut the sign when she even avoided calling an Uber right outside the house.
Calvin also pointed out that there are many landlords like him who are hurting due to overdue eviction cases. He claimed that Kathia was taking advantage of the situation and wanted to run away without paying the rent. Meanwhile, Kathia, who earns $46,731 working for the city’s Department of Social Services, claimed the Thompsons were tricking her into paying the increased rent.
Read all the latest Ukraine-Russia war news, breaking news and live updates here.
–
–
