Maria Rutyna Maria refused to give back deposit after I moved out--she was a bad landlord that didnt fix anything Staten Island, New York

Maria Rutyna appeared to be a nice landlord claiming she was "a gewd person" with her thick Russian/Polish accent. I gave her $1400 for Security and 1st Month's Rent on the last week of September 2010. During my one year there, I always paid on time. I rented the studio apt for myself which became constant problems from the start. The heat did not work the first days I moved in because she probably had some feud with the previous tenant that neglected to pay his bills.

During the time I lived there, I had no heat and no air conditioning for a total of 6 times. I can recall NOT having a/c for a good 2 months because she kept sending someone unlicensed and unable to fix the problem. There is a dummy outlet in the apartment and the unlicensed "electrician" would of had to spend thousands to fix it because they would of had to break down the walls. That was not fixed along with the outlet in the bathroom. This violates electrical building codes that I would later find out.

Hurricane Irene hit and that Zone had to evacuate. After the hurricane I come home to a flooded hallway, the water went up to abpprox 1 1/2 feet. I lost childhood paintings and over $500 of damage in shoes. The hallway carpet was soak and wet and gypsom on the sheet rock was turning into a mush. I called Maria to come over and she didnt show up until 3 days later. In the meantime I took a wet/dry vac and tried to suck the water out of the carpet. When she came over said she was not going to fix anything.

I told her if she doesnt fix anything it was going to get moldy and I will be forced to move out. That is exactly what happened. Mold accumulated within a few days and I knew it would just get worse. I told Maria I was leaving the apartment and it would be left available for Oct 1st 2011. It looks like Maria finally realized she had insurance(this is how incompetent she is). Three weeks later an Allstate agent came to take an estimate on the damage and he said they do not pay for the carpet, which I saw as a red flag.

When I moved out on September 30th she said she would not give me back the deposit. When asked for an explanation she said she has to repaint the apartment. I told her there is nothing more than normal wear and tear. I am a very clean and responsible person and my mother and I even cleaned the bathroom and left the apartment spotless. That night we got into a heated argument and I told her I will see her in court.

Court date was Feb 2nd which she failed to appear and sent her lawyer to file an "application" as some excuse to buy time to not pay me. I am confident with the pictures I have and that the NY state law is in the tenants favor that I will be getting my money back soon. The next court date is in June and I will see her in court this time for real because this time she can not get out of it.

This woman plays the pity card and acts like she is a good person but then turns around and is the complete opposite. Now she is attempting to sell the place and I HIGHLY do not recommend it since as an investment it obviously is prone to flooding.