Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Landlord

Then, on August 26, 2011, her front door was left open while a water heater was being installed in her apartment. According to Montealegre, Samovha barged in with flyers for a September 2 meeting, which read: “We’ll say it once, we’ll say it 100 times: Tenants have the right to insist on their right to repairs and good living conditions. New York City and state laws protect us, and we can meet together to deal with our building problems.”

Samovha asked Montealegre’s 13-year-old daughter if the flyers were theirs. When she answered yes, Samovha grabbed her by the arm, and the rest of her children began yelling, “He’s hitting her!”

Montealegre rushed out from another room and reached for her daughter to move her out of the way. Instead of striking the girl, Samovha hit Montealegre. A struggle between them ensued.

“I pushed him, and he was looking for some sort of tool to hit me with,” she says. “All the kids ran outside, and he followed them, yelling that we were hitting him. He called the police, and then my daughter called the police.”

Moshe Samovha holds the 12th spot on the Public Advocate’s worst landlords in Manhattan watch list, but today, we’re just going to go ahead and say he’s the worst.

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.