subject Premises were admitted into evidence, without opposition, and establish both the
existing conditions and that Landlord was on notice of said conditions.
Ten days after the inspection, on July 29, 2013, HPD returned to the
Premises to ascertain compliance with the Violation Notices, only to find that no repairs
had been made. Indeed, the majority of the violations remained unabated on the
inspection conducted on September 10, 2013, with the exceptions of the windows and
kitchen sink, which were apparently repaired. An additional violation was found in the
apartment with respect to the existence of cockroaches, and the most serious Class C
violation in the apartment continued, to wit: "abate the nuisance consisting of rodents
[and] rats in the entire apartment." With respect to this, Tenant testified that it was
"gross" to live in the apartment with all those rodents, that she was unable to cook or
store food in the kitchen, and was sometimes afraid to stay alone in the apartment
because of the [*3]large rats. Pictures admitted into
evidence show cereal boxes, a package of Ramen noodles and a Wesson vegetable oil
bottle, all with what appear to be rat holes on them as well as photos of large dead rats.
Photographs of the Premises' front entrance door show large unpainted patches,
scratches, holes and overall misalignment. On October 9, 2013, there still were water
leaks in the bathroom ceiling and walls needing paint in several rooms. Faced with
Landlord's failure to heed her constant telephonic calls and comply with HPD violation
notices, Tenant apparently began to withhold her monthly rent payments. Even with this
rent retention, no repairs were conducted. Instead, Landlord demanded for Tenant to pay
all the arrears owed by then, but Tenant failed to do so.