Moved Into a Jersey City Apartment and Nothing Works—What Are My Options?
I recently moved into a market-rate apartment in Jersey City (not rent-stabilized, managed by a property management company). It’s been a month now, and I’m discovering that almost nothing in the apartment is functioning properly.
The first few weeks, I was super busy with a new job and didn’t notice the issues. Here’s what I’ve encountered so far:
- Water Heater: Worked for a single day after I moved in, then stopped. It took nearly two weeks for maintenance to fix it after I submitted a request.
- Microwave: Hasn’t worked since day one. Took three weeks to get it fixed.
- Kitchen Water Pressure: It’s so low that washing dishes or doing anything takes forever.
- Oven: I tried using it today to bake a pizza and realized it doesn’t heat to the set temperature. On top of that, I don’t even see a heating rod inside.
- Dishwasher: Turned it on to test it, and, as expected, it’s not working either. It’s leaking soapy water from the bottom.
I’ve submitted maintenance requests for the oven and dishwasher, but considering how long it took for previous issues to be resolved, I’m not hopeful.
Since I’m new to the U.S. (from Canada), I don’t know much about tenant rights here in Jersey City. What are my options in this situation?
- Should I stop paying rent to pressure the management into fixing these issues?
- Is there an authority I can file a complaint with? If so, where and how can I do this?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!