The sun., 1903-10-04

day In a talk with some real estate men
whose specially is renting fats and apart
ments. The main difference, by the way,
between a fiat and an apartment Is that
the one costs $40 or so q month and the
other nearer 800.
When il comes to the question Of q lease,
however, there is no difference. On renting
any suite Of rooms that costs $40 or more
. tenant Ia expected to sign lease for at
lsast ono year.
just now lots Of hat hunters are signing
eases In hurry. Apparently some of
them can't get hold Of pen and ink fast
enough. There are two reasons for this:
Tho first Is that medium priced fats are
scsrce--yes, absolutely scarce--owing to
the fact that new fat houses which the
owners confidently expected would be
Rsady for occupancy by Oct. /, the great
renting time Of the year are not nearly An
ished, In conse quence Of the numerous labor
strikes. As, strikes or no strikes, the
population Of New York goes on steadily
increasing, naturally it follows that the de-
mand for fats is much brisker now than
It was at this time last year.
The second reason, which hinges on the
,
thinking they have discovered exactly
what they want, sign In hurry, for fear
some one else viii come along and snap
It up. This appertains more particularly
to women.
Women, according to an authority on
the renting question, take q rule about
elk times az long as a man to decide whether
some one particular fiat suits them or not;
and yet, ouriously enough, many Of them
sign lease with a celebrity and . rashness
that make the average man open his eyes.
This Is because, says the same authority,
the average man has moro respect for
lease than the average woman.
It has como to pass that good proportion
Of the families who occupy fats include no
. man. It has become the fashion for two
or three or more women to Join forces and
60 to housekeeping.
The bachelor girl. for example, is keen
about It. Then there arc countless widows
and their children among the fiat dwellers.
None Of these, 1t seems, takes a lease
seriously; neither, for that matter, do the
just married pairs-there is a host Of them
who previously have had no experience
whatever in renting on their own account.
For this reason the life of the real estate
man Is not quite 80 serene as It appears to
be, and some Of the more outspoken refer
diaparagingly to the fiat lease as more or
less useless document anyway. Others,
but even more binding than 1t is now.
We can't get along without leases, said
An uptown real estate man. "Were it not
for their leases, some people would be NOV
ing around every month or two especially
people who are trying fiat life for the first
time.
Many Of these new recruits to fiat life
have been living in the country or in small
towns. Suoh people are famous for picking
out fiat close to trolley or the elevated
road or a particularly travelled thorough
fare
in making their selection they are intent
only on the inside OF the fiat They never
give thought to the outside. so long az the
neighborhood looks all right As result,
before the end Of the first month they are
anxious to move. But there is the lease.
II had no idea this was such noisy
locality the tenant urges.
But l point out, you saw and heard
the elevated trains and the trolleys and
the wagons when you signed the lease
well, know that, but then had no
idea they made so much noise at night he
insists
Rather than have suit brought against
him, though, q tenant Of this class generally
settles down to try IL for another month,
and. ten chances to one, by the end of that
time lie gets 80 used to the noise that hear
no more about IT,
~Yes, there are cases where the tenant
has right to break a lease, as for instance
when the landlord fails to come up to his
part Of the bargain according to the lease
II the fiat Ia not kept heated or there is In
sunicient hot water or immoral neighbors or
persistent leaks that damage the premises
when the lease promises heat and hot water
and respectability tenant may move at
any time. A question of noise, though,
won't break lease.
II the noise in question is detrimental
to health-and the Health Board may
be called In to decide this--the landlord
will set about remedying it, Only last
week tenant OF mine wanted to move
because she objected to the sound of dish
washing that came up through the shaft
from the other kitchens. She complained
that every tenant seemed to have a diff
ferent hour for washing dishes and that
the clatter continued nearly all day.
Il pointed out that when the weather
got cooler and windows were shut she
wouldn't hear the rattle 80 much, and
that In any case dish washing, even con-
tinuous dish washing, was not sufficient
cause for breaking lease.
The same day another tenant came to |
tell me that she Just couldn't stand the |
neighhors underneath, who played the
piano and sang all day long or course, | |
knew she exaggerated, for the only musical
performers In that family are two young
daughters, who spend good deal of time |
out Of doors; but. even II her story were
true, private tenants cannot be restricted
in their playing and singing within certain |
hours. provided they are not giving
lessons.
And yet I quite failed to make that
point clear to the woman who had COM
planned. The fact is. people who are
susceptible to noise and want uniform
iy psacef'll, quiet environment have no |
business to hire fiat especially an Or |
dinasy priced fat.
but III not always u question Of noise.
Aftsr settling down in fiat a tenant some |
times discovers another that has larger |