Ask Real Estate: Stolen Packages: When You Can, and Can’t, Blame Your Landlord

The New York Times, November 2, 2024

by Jill Terreri Ramos

Ask Real Estate

Stolen Packages: When You Can, and Can’t, Blame Your Landlord

Landlords are not legally required to provide delivery lockers,

or concierges, if these are not already provided services in your building.

Q: I live in a nice rent-stabilized building in Park Slope, Brooklyn. We’ve had packages stolen for months, not to mention a few intruders, including some teenagers caught smoking marijuana in a common area. Our building has neither a doorman nor a concierge, only a front door entry code and surveillance cameras. The super refuses to get involved and tells us to call the police. We’ve notified our management company, asking them to improve security with lockers or a virtual concierge, to no avail. How can we get management to take action? Do we have any legal recourse?

A: Your landlord appears to be providing the required security measures under the law, so your best course of action is probably to work with your neighbors to make sure the building is safe.

In rental buildings with three or more units (a.k.a. multiple dwellings), landlords must provide secure mailboxes, an intercom so tenants can admit guests, secure doors and a key to the building. They are not required to provide delivery lockers, or concierges, if these are not already provided services, said David A. Kaminsky, a real estate lawyer in Manhattan.

Leases also contain clauses that prevent a landlord from being liable for lost or stolen property, including delivered packages, unless a door lock has been broken for an extended period, Mr. Kaminsky said.

Renting an offsite locker would keep your packages safe, and would be quicker than trying to convince your landlord to make security upgrades.

“The management company may agree with the need to add security, but the landlord has to be willing to incur the expense to better secure the premises,” said Daniel J. Wollman, chief executive officer of Gumley Haft, a property management company in New York.

While a virtual concierge could help with building security, it might also create privacy concerns for you and your neighbors. “I don’t want a management company to know my comings and goings,” said Steven Ben Gordon, a lawyer who represents tenants in Queens.

You could keep a log of thefts, make police reports, request video surveillance and testify against the alleged perpetrators in court. But even if you win a conviction, it probably won’t deter new thieves. Instead, work with your neighbors.

“The building is meeting its basic responsibility,” Mr. Gordon said. “Don’t buzz in people that shouldn’t be there. Look out for each other.”