Upset with what they call a sudden, exorbitant and unwarranted rent hike, tenants from a North Fordham building stormed the Riverdale offices of their landlord group last week and demanded they drop the increase.

Though they were told supervisors at Rental Masters were not available, tenants taped angry Valentines outlining their grievances to a reception window.

Among other suspicious calculations, tenants from 2720 Grand Concourse said the rent increase, which they were notified of by letter in January and took effect immediately, does not match up with the money spent on the capital improvements the increase supposedly stems from.

The increase of $31.57 per room is hitting tenants, some of whom have up to seven rooms in their apartments, particularly hard this winter. Because many of them are either seniors living on a fixed income or working-class people living check to check, some tenants said the increase may force them to leave a building they’ve lived in for decades.

One such woman, a retired 30-year resident of the building who attended the rally last Wednesday but wished to remain anonymous because she feared retaliation from the landlord, said simply, “I can’t afford it.” Her rent jumped $120 last month. She and many others have refused to pay the increase.

Another senior living in the building has resorted to eating cat food to save funds to pay for the increase.

Dino Rossi is among those refusing to pay more and he’s done the research to show exactly why. Along with other vocal tenants and help from the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, Rossi is leading an effort to organize against their landlord, Jacob Selechnik.

Dubbed “Jake the Snake” by Coalition organizers who have fought him in the Bronx for decades, Selechnik is consistently ranked as one of Village Voice’s 10 worst landlords. (He was No. 5 in 2006.) According to Coalition organizers, Selechnik owns 110 buildings  throughout the city.

Known for his “stealth”-like presence, it’s difficult to find Selechnik’s name anywhere associated with the property. But tenants and organizers have identified Rental Masters, which employs Ellen Selechnik, Jacob’s daughter, and has offices in Riverdale, as the management company for 2720 Grand Concourse; it’s officially managed by a limited liability company (LLC) called 2720, LLC. (Larger landlord groups like Selechnik’s often use LLCs because they do exactly what they sound like they do – limit a company’s liability when they get in trouble.)

Selechnik took over ownership of 2720 in 2005, when repair work was being completed on the building’s brick work. A year earlier, bricks fell from the building’s roof, injuring a 10-year-old boy. Rossi, a former organizer, and other tenants say it appears Selechnik is taking credit for repairs and capital improvements that were the responsibility of the former ownership group, which was forced to make them after the bricks fell.  

According to city Department of Buildings documents, Selechnik’s company received a $2.1 million discount on 2720’s price tag because of the estimated cost of repairs and any subsequent lawsuit settlement. Because of this, tenants don’t believe the repair costs should be passed on to them.

At least three 2720 tenants also told Rossi that the previous owners, Property Services LLC, said insurance would cover all the costs related to the repair work. On Tuesday, before the Norwood News went to press, a representative for Property Services said she didn’t have time to look through property records to confirm this or anything else about 2720 Grand Concourse

But even if the current ownership did pass on the costs as part of the Major Capital Improvement (MCI) rent increase that was imposed in January, the numbers don’t add up. In its MCI increase application, the building’s managers claimed repairs and improvements amounted to $1.79 million. But in two job applications for 2720 Grand Concourse, the estimated cost of repairs was $257,000, according to buildings department documents. The work done in the job applications matches up directly with the work claimed in the rent increase application.

Rossi also uncovered that the MCI application claimed scaffolding costs of $59,832.68 for the repair work. But it was actually the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) that had the scaffolding erected because the former owner, Property Services, didn’t take care of it. HPD charged the building and was paid $20,805 for the scaffolding work, according to HPD documents. HPD could not confirm which ownership group paid for the scaffolding, only that the amount was accurate.

Tenants also believe 2720 LLC grossly inflated its claimed architecture fees, which amounted to $190,540.05.

Meanwhile, tenants also found out that the imposed rent increases were calculated wrong in the MCI application. According to the Department of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), which regulates rent increases, retroactive and permanent increases can only be phased in each year at a maximum of 6 percent. But Rossi and other tenants said they were facing increases of up to nearly 30 percent.  

On three separate occasions, Rossi said he went to the Bronx DHCR offices on Fordham Road to confirm the miscalculations. At least one staffer there confirmed his suspicions and told him to write a letter to ownership, which he did in mid-January. He did not get the response he was looking for. A lawyer for 2720 LLC, Lisa Oppenheimer, responded in a letter dated Jan. 23 that “the increase is well within acceptable guidelines.”

But it also said that two separate increases were being imposed at the same time, which is not consistent with DHCR guidelines for rent stabilized buildings such as 2720 Grand Concourse.   

Several phone calls to 2720 LLC (which has the same phone number and address as Rental Masters) requesting comment were not returned.

In the meantime, the tenants decided to take their case to the source of their displeasure last week on a slushy, rainy Wednesday morning. After gathering in their building’s lobby, about 30 tenants, many taking off work for the event, jumped into a yellow school bus and headed to the Riverdale offices of 2720 LLC, chanting protest slogans the entire time.

After delivering their Valentines and demands, Rossi, standing out in the cold rain, told the other tenants that this was far from over and that they would have to continue ratcheting up the pressure.

On the bus ride back to 2720 Grand Concourse, the drenched protesters wondered how many other tenants had been duped into paying exorbitant rent increases. Willie Perales, who’s lived in the building for 23 years, said, “If you don’t know the laws, they will eat you alive.”