The year 2019 was supposed to be a special one for Barbara Sainz. It was the year the 61 year old welcomed a grandson into her owner-occupied, third-floor 610 Wales Ave. apartment in Woodstock.
But Sainz told the Bronx Times that 2019 was also the launching point of a four-year harassment campaign by her landlord
that nearly led to eviction attempts in 2020 and 2023. Sainz alleges that Osorio escalated harassment tactics to get her to leave her apartment, which included racist remarks about her Cuban heritage, interruptions of “essential services” such as an unfixed refrigerator and multiple no-cause calls to NYPD and FDNY to Sainz’ third-floor apartment.Sainz, who is retired, said without fixes to her refrigerator, she had to put breastmilk for her grandson on ice packs to keep it refrigerated. Ultimately, her daughter and grandson moved into a shelter to escape the harassment.
“Two years of court appearances, two years of putting ice packs in a mini-fridge to keep my grandson’s (breastmilk) cool. She made a hole in the sink well, and there was a mice infestation,” Sainz told the Times through translation. “It’s caused this dark depression. I don’t know what I did to deserve this treatment.”
According to court records, two holdover eviction cases were filed by Osorio in 2020 and January 2023 against Sainz in Bronx County Civil Court’s landlord and tenant division. A holdover eviction is a court case by the landlord against the tenant for a reason other than payment of rent.
As evictions and landlord legal escalation soar in backlogged Bronx Housing Court, tenant representation comes into focus
What kept Sainz from being evicted was ensured legal representation — thanks to a law that provides tenants who are under 200% of the federal poverty line with access to counsel in housing court — and her Legal Aid lawyer David Singer’s trained eye to catch errors in Osario’s holdover filings.
Osorio’s claims were…
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