Landlord Trying To Evict 97 Yr Old Veteran

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

"I will stand up and fight him now," said former merchant marine Magnus Saethre, 97, who survived a Nazi U-boat torpedo attack during the war. "I'm scared of nothing."

I like the guy's attitude! I bet he still can kick the landlord's butt!

and the landlord sounds very believable given his history of ousting low-income tenants. Crook!

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Penguin

I like the guy's attitude! I bet he still can kick the landlord's butt!

Reminds me a little of this fella, an 81 yr old (at the time) WWII and Korea vet:

[Donald Clouston] made the news — and received a phone call from TV comic Jay Leno — after he reported to Santa Rosa police in March of 2008 that he was on one of his daily multi-mile walks when a teen-ager with a knife tried to rob him on Fourth Street.

Clouston said he told the mugger he'd been attacked with rifles and bayonets, and there was no way he'd hand over his wallet to a kid with a knife.

“Son,” he recalls saying, “you take one more step toward me and I'll take you out.” He said the young man took that step, so he kicked him where it hurts most. He said the would-be assailant writhed on the sidewalk as he continued his walk.

Bada$$ old dudes:

[HunterICX]

Aye Veterans are a special brand of people, I once talked to a US merchant veteran who sailed through the mediterranean to supply the war effort in Italy at the time.

witnessed a torpedo attack on the ship that sailed in front of him, I remember him telling about the fear that hanged over the ship knowing that the uboat captain might be looking at your ship for his next attack.

HunterICX

[Weiss Pinguin]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Bada$$ old dudes:

I can't be the only one who thought of this when I read that

[frau kaleun]

That movie just about broke my heart.

And I mean that in a good way.

[AVGWarhawk]

Bada$$ old dudes:

Yep, they are cool. We had one on our street. We addressed him as Mr. Ed. Survived WW2. Marched his way through Italy. He passed 3 years ago. Always walking our street with his pipe. Funny part is his pipe was always upside down. He would tease my girls and say he was going to swipe their bikes or ask for a peanut butter/jelly sandwich. Cool guy. Anyway, his story to me one day concerned transporting a superior from the rear to the front lines somewhere in Italy. He was driving a Willys Jeep. As they neared the front the superior could hear "plink...plink,plink, plink." To that he screamed, "They are shooting at us." To which Mr. Ed said, "What do you expect we are in a war zone." He said he just kept on driving to the front and the superior was ducking behind the Willy's dashboard. Last time I spoke with Mr. Ed was when he fell in his backyard. Pipe went one way and his slippers the other way. I was riding by with my daughter and seen him fall. I picked him up, brushed off his pipe and sent him inside to his wife. He was quite disoriented in is twilight years.

[Platapus]

Before opining, I would like a little more information. Clearly the referenced article is written with a bias in favour of the old vet. I would like to know if the accusations of the landlord have any validity.

What kind of lease does this guy have where his rent stays at $65 per month?

Methinks there is more to the story.

[Neptunus Rex]

It's a rent controlled apartment. As long as he remains under lease, (and the landlord has to prove the lease was broken) the rent remains unchanged.

If he moves out, the apartment goes to market rate.

If the head line were ...

Landlord wants to evict a 27 year old.

No problem. Agism.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Neptunus Rex

It's a rent controlled apartment. As long as he remains under lease, (and the landlord has to prove the lease was broken) the rent remains unchanged.

If he moves out, the apartment goes to market rate.

Therin lies the motive. I imagine that at the current rate of 60 some dollars it would be a substantial increase. I would also think that at 60 bucks a month the landlord is probably losing money. Property taxes if nothing else.

But I'm with Steve. This guy deserves it. Hell he probably stuggles at 60 some bucks a month. Hopefully since this has gained attention perhpaps a philanthropic minded individual will come to the cause.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Platapus

Before opining, I would like a little more information. Clearly the referenced article is written with a bias in favour of the old vet. I would like to know if the accusations of the landlord have any validity.

What kind of lease does this guy have where his rent stays at $65 per month?

Methinks there is more to the story.

He's in a rent-controlled apartment. NYC has had an ongoing rent control and/or rent stabilization program(s) in place since 1943.

Rent control limits the price a landlord can charge a tenant for rent and also regulates the services the landlord must provide. Failure to provide these may allow the tenant to demand a lower rent.

In New York City, rent control is based on the Maximum Base Rent system. A maximum allowable rent is established for each unit, and every two years, the landlord may increase the rent up to 7.5% until the Maximum Base Rent is reached. However, the tenant may challenge these increases on grounds that the building has violations or the owner does not need to increase the rent that much to cover expenses.

He's been living there since 1945, so presumably his rent is based on what he was paying when the law went into effect for that property, which would have been decades ago at least or even as far back as when he first signed the lease. So it would be that amount, plus an increase of no more than the allowable percentage every two years. That's assuming his past landlords were able or willing to raise it as much as they could and as often as they could, which may not have been the case. The previous owner may have been giving him an even sweeter deal because of his age/situation and time in residence. The current landlord has only owned the building since 2006.

If Mr. Saethe chooses to move or is forced out, the new owner gets a new tenant and the rent-control business starts all over again with them, only with a much higher starting rent than the landlord will ever be able to charge Mr. Saethe.