286 Linden Street,

Brooklyn, NY 11237

The building was generally clean, even though it was clearly dated. Tenants and neighbors will hold on to your packages/deliveries if you're not there to pick it up. However, that depends on how much they like you personally, and how much of a relationship you build with the neighbors.

The building must be family owned because all of the tenants there are family. It's like living in one big apartment so privacy is nonexistent. I subleased a room in the apartment on the third floor with one of the tenants. Other tenants visited the apartment frequently with no forewarning. My roommate left the door open so family members walked in and out as they pleased. Nearly every time I took a shower, there was someone else in the house and the front door (closest to the bathroom and my bedroom) would be wide open. There was an infestation of mice and roaches in my apartment; both which I wasn't warned about beforehand. It wasn't until I expressed my grievances that it was barely handled. My roommate/landlord never contacted an exterminator; she just gave me mouse traps.

Besides that, most tenants in the building were cordial when they felt like being cordial. The first time I entered the house after subleasing, a tenant questioned me as though I was a stranger trying to invade their home. I thought that the tenants and I would get along being that I was clean, polite, and overall to myself. But most times I entered the building, tenants, including my own roommate/landlord, did not greet me or make conversation. My roommate was so adamant about not speaking to me that she would let us go without necessities in the house to avoid asking me to get them. She displayed unsolicited passive aggressive and rudeness towards me, in general. The mother of my landlord/roommate was the nicest to me.

To top it off, I decided to move because I could not endure the social and living conditions of the apartment anymore. My landlord/roommate assured me that I would get my deposit back. I left my room (which was windowless by the way) in the exact condition it was when I arrived; I had only been there for 5 months. I moved out in March and have not received my deposit. I emailed and texted her and she ignored all of my communication, but found the time to post pictures of the room on a housing site in search of another roommate. I never received an itemized receipt of what she spent my deposit money on, but I expected not to because I left no damages. I left my key on the doorknob when I left; the new pictures she uploaded have the keys in the same place so I figure there really was nothing wrong with how I left the room. So her behavior confirmed my suspicion that she misused my deposit and/or never intended to pay it back. Additionally, she is charging $200 more for the same room now.

Do not move to this address, for the sake of your sanity and your pockets.

You'll make more money if you care less about getting your money and making your tenants feel respected and safe in their own home. If your need for money drives you to steal people's deposits and treat them like banks, you clearly need to introspect and find a new career path.