A New York City landlord named the worst in the city by the Public Advocate’s office is at Rikers after allegedly failing to perform hundreds of court-ordered repairs on some Manhattan properties he owns.
Not really, in most places in the US. Housing departments are underfunded in many states and municipalities, mostly so crooked property companies can get away with renting unsafe and unsanitary properties or extorting tenants. Sure, they’ll usually take action against the biggest offenders after enough people complain, but exercising tenant rights (if indeed you have any, tenant rights vary state to state, county to county and sometimes city to city) is very hard and costly in many places.
Are there not tenancy bureaus where you live that enforce (or y’know, give lip service) to housing standards?
Not really, in most places in the US. Housing departments are underfunded in many states and municipalities, mostly so crooked property companies can get away with renting unsafe and unsanitary properties or extorting tenants. Sure, they’ll usually take action against the biggest offenders after enough people complain, but exercising tenant rights (if indeed you have any, tenant rights vary state to state, county to county and sometimes city to city) is very hard and costly in many places.