Is NY Attorney General Letitia James a Slumlord in Her Own Building? Tenants Say Yes
NY AGT Letitia James is in more trouble after the tenants accuse her of being a slumlord. They say she does nothing about bedbug infestation, peeling paint, using an apartment illegally, and more. They have lodged 17 complaints in the last 20 months with the New York City Department of Buildings.
These include unauthorized construction work without proper permits, the alteration of a load-bearing wall without permits, the illegal use of apartments as hotel rooms, illegal conversion, a fence over the height limit, and a failure to notify authorities of scaffold work. In addition, all four tenants report problems with bedbugs.
Additionally, two tenants have recently complained of peeling paint. These are both clear violations of housing maintenance codes designed to safeguard tenant health.
Bedbugs and peeling paint in residential settings pose serious health and safety risks to tenants.
Bedbugs are parasitic insects that feed on human blood, often at night, leaving behind itchy welts, allergic reactions, and excessive scratching.
Infestations can spread quickly through walls, floors, and shared spaces, causing widespread discomfort, anxiety, and sleep disruption.
Peeling paint, especially in older buildings, presents another danger – particularly if it contains lead, which is common in buildings like James’s which were constructed before 1978.
Lead-based paint can flake or create dust that, when ingested or inhaled, is toxic – especially to young children and pregnant women.
Together, these hazards reflect a failure by Letitia James to maintain safe and healthy living conditions and can indicate landlord negligence or even systemic housing code violations.
These complaints paint the picture that Letitia James is a slumlord. Slumlords are known to neglect the maintenance and safety of their rental properties, this is done to maximize profits while jeopardizing the health and wellbeing of their tenants. Slumlords are often associated with exploiting low-income or vulnerable tenants who are afraid of retaliation from the slumlord.
On February 18, 2025, James posted on Twitter:
“All New Yorkers deserve fair, stable housing, and I will always take on landlords who try to evade our laws for their own financial gain”.
Ironically, James built her political brand on her professed commitment to tenant advocacy and housing justice. Throughout her career, she has spoken out forcefully against negligent landlords, supported sweeping enforcement actions, and emphasized the need to maintain safe and decent housing for all New Yorkers.
James, in fact, has consistently positioned herself as a defender of the city’s most vulnerable residents. Her public statements often stress that no one is above the law and that those who exploit or endanger tenants should be held accountable.
All of James’s lofty principles are now clashing with a troubling reality. The hypocrisy is difficult to ignore. While publicly condemning landlords who allow their properties to deteriorate, James has failed to uphold those very standards in her own building.
At this stage, addressing the code violations at her property is a necessary first step. A necessary second step is to acknowledge her failure to live up to her own standards. Anything less erodes public trust and diminishes the legitimacy of the tenant advocacy she has long championed.
#letitiajames #housinghypocrisy #nycscandal
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