New York Room For Rent - 5 Bedroom apartment for a roommate in Prospect Heights (NY-15899)

Apartment is not fit for rental for reasons relating to state of the apartment and because the owner does not really want to share her space.

1. The electricity in the apartment is very old.
1a. You cannot use the microwave at the same time that you have lights on, watch TV, use the internet, iron clothes and/or have a heater plugged in. If you do this, then the fuse will blow.
1b. There are insufficient electric outlets in the rooms rented out. The purple room with the TV (there is not a TV in that room, btw) has one working electric outlet and you are expected to plug in everything via that outlet (this is a fire hazard).
1c. There was a fire in her apartment while I lived there. The owner claimed that she had not left a candle burning in the room and the firemen had not found an immediate problem with the electrical outlet. Since fires do not occur without provocation, I am convinced that the storage bins in one of her small rooms caught afire because of some sort of electrical problem. Either way, be careful with electricity in this apartment.

2. Sometimes there is no heat or hot water
2a. The owner acquired a new boiler as a result of renting out rooms in her apt. However, the boiler is timed and only runs for less than half an hour during each interval.
2b. Although the rooms are very small (the picture is deceptive), the draft from the window is much stronger than the heat that rises from the radiator. So, you might feel the heat if you are seated beside the radiator. However, if you are standing by the door of the room, then you will not feel much heat (you feel the heat better if the door is kept close at all times). The other room for rent has very poor heating. Unfortunately, both rooms cannot use a heater otherwise the fuse will blow and the owner will become angry.
2c. We lacked hot water for about two days or so during my 4 month stay here. This was incredibly inconvenient considering that it was extremely cold outside and I had no place else to bathe.

3. The photos of this apartment are deceptive
3a. There is not a living room in this apartment because the owner turned it into her bedroom.
3b. There is not a common area, other than the bathroom and kitchen. There is a dining room but it is small and cramped and uncomfortable to sit in for a long period of time.
3c. The only room with a television is the owner's room
3d. There is a washing machine in the kitchen but it does not work; instead the owner uses it to store things
3e. There are many closets in the kitchen but the owner is not likely to make space for you to use them. I lived with her for 4 months and I had to request space to store kitchen supplies. She offered me the bottom shelf of a small microwave cart. When I informed her that I required more space she refused and declared that I did not need more space than what she had provided. When I informed her that I did need more space she refused to make space for me elsewhere.
3f. Do not expect space in the refrigerator. The owner became upset when I requested space in the freezer. Although she assigned me the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, she frequently moved my things and stored her food items on my shelf.

4. If you stay here, claim space in the bathroom as the owner will not readily make room for you.

5. The owner's actions and confessions to me reveal that she does not really want to share her home. She just wants to make money off of renting rooms in her home to finance repairs to her mother's building.

6. The owner is not open to you having guests over - especially not over night guests.
6a. I am a 35 year old grown female who is engaged and she refused me the right to have an overnight guest, including my fiance. She made me feel as if I ought to be lucky that she allowed him to visit me.
6b. Once I asked the owner if I could have a prayer group in the dining room that she barely uses (about four people) and she gave me a look suggestive that she did not really want me to have people over. Finally she agreed but I could tell that I should not make that request again.
6c. The owner will enter your room as she pleases regardless of whether you like this. The owner did this to me on multiple occasions. She is old-school and believes that since she is the legal tenant of the apartment she has the ultimate say over any and everything in the apartment regardless of whether you pay her rent. She will inform you that you can leave if you dislike her rules.

7. These rooms are very small and not worth the price requested.