follow-up question. You mentioned there's a number like practices and things related
to the property’s management that you had concerns about. I heard maintenance not
performed and was just trying to keep up with because you were speaking so fast.
Would you mind just playing back that part? Please describe property management
issues you're experiencing. They're not governed by the same rules as the Rent
Stabilization Review process, but they're part of how you're experiencing housing. I'd
like to understand that better is part of our response.
Poehler: I've lived there for about 26 years. Throughout that time, there's been
variances to how much attention is paid to keep the building running. When this
company took over. because I don't want to live in a place that's falling apart, I spent
a lot of my own time trying to make up for things that don't get done. There's still a big
hole in somebody’s window that they never fixed. I’ve taken pictures of it. It's in the
record. I just felt I had to come up here and talk about it because at least it's in the
record, even if it's not going to be voted on. I think that the conditions there are not
abysmal, but they certainly are not great. They don't have a caretaker. Because I live
there, I don't want the place to fall apart. I do things on my own, kind of a regular
basis every day. I'm not paid any money for that. In fact, now they’re raising my rent.
The attachments show the details of that. It's continued on since they took over the
company. Those are some examples. I have to kind of pull teeth to try to ask them to
fix stuff. A cute one was where the heat wasn't there for 24 hours. I actually didn't feel
very good that night but had to try to get through it. It was my space heater. They
didn't provide a space heater. I had used my own. It's my bill, my money. If we're
talking about money, I think there's something more to this than just money. It's the
conditions, feelings, and safety for the tenants. Money is not everything. Maybe to a
company, but it's not certainly the case for the people that are just trying feel
comfortable in their living space. I'm generalizing, but that's the overall feeling. Now
they want to raise more rent.
Jalali: This is a Housing Hub property?
Poehler: It’s called Herschel Properties, LLC. They are also the owner of their
management company called Housing Hub, who also staffs. When you put in the
maintenance requests on their website to come out and fix things, the two owners of
both companies decide as to whether we're going to be charged. They determine if
we're responsible for it as tenants or not. I'm very careful about everything I do
because I feel like am I going to get charged. One time the drain was clogged with
hair and that they charged us for that. I changed the kind of shampoo I use so I don't
have a chance of that again. It’s not just about a ledger and saving money. It's about
the feeling of the tenants. I’ve spoken to other tenants who complain about things,
and who've since moved out. That’s something I consider doing. I like the
neighborhood. It's convenient for me.
Jalali: I appreciate you answering my question. This is been helpful for me. I have
spent time studying this case to understand the picture of what rules apply to this. I
guess I would start by saying I think that what you're bringing up is an example of
how a landlord could go through a process and make and substantiate a case about
how they can qualify for an exception. What's not being captured within that, though,
is how there are costs that you're taking on simply because the quality or condition of
the basic pieces of the unit isn’t where it should be. I want you to know that I see and
understand that the rules that govern whether landlord can get an exception are
about the information they present. That gets reviewed to show the reasonable return
on investment standard that they have to qualify for. And it's my understanding they
have qualified for more than what they could be getting, and that they're doing an
incremental increase. The way that I have to make this determination is: has that
information been substantiated? In this case, I see that it has. But that doesn't mean
that this limit is fulfilling the obligation to you. I actually paid extra attention to this
case because of Housing Hub’s poor reputation in the community long before the
Attorney General had even successfully won like $63,000 from them for things like
