New-York tribune., 1922-02-19
Apartment Owners
And Tenants Should
Halt Greedy Janiior
lip Takcr Cause of Nan>
Disputes Between Renter
ard t'sc Owner: Land
lords Out to Stop Evil

"Orc OF tho great sources for land
lord and tenant disscnsion $ tho greed,
lanitor.' say NJ. Kahn in recent is
sue of "lho Real Estate News"
An outcro~th Of the housing situa-
tion is the cNtcNsj"c and pornlcious
practice OF tipping or th- giving Of
gratultlcs 10 ianitors by tenants. This
practice begins vi'n tto very entry Of
tho tenant iutn the house when Gus
tom norc or loss comDcls tho tenant
to pay tho }an'tor bonus. KEY money
CT tip upon the surrender or the KEYS
60 hun. Prom tNcH on the system cx-
poets the tenant to tip the ianjtor
every INC y now washer I. rrcded
TN the faucet. g window cord or cnaill
replaced or somc otncr slight repair
Inch the lanltor Is generally recog-
ni2Nd ~ make Tenants tire OF ccntin-
ualiy feeding money II 4 scr>ant who
i elrcaiy being pad Tor the services
expected Of him and the t ps' X the
course OF Gmc cease.
often Cause Of Litigation
"Nith this the attention OF the
janitor ceases and deaf ear is turnc ed
TO the usual complaints OF the tenant.
indignant at not receiving Il service
that the rental as rule guarantees,
the tenant vents his anger at the lane
lord and tho NcAt month withhold tho
rcnt. Some times matters Of such kind
arc adjusted and :hcn again LITIGATION
al times is necessary. All i'm all. condi-
tons oi such kind arc no, i'm any way
conductive toward good fellowship be-
tween landlord and tenant.
''!n 10 way is this tipping system
favorable for the landlord Another
vicious condition it creates is a too
friondly relationship hctwcor tenant
aud ianitor. This relationship is more
than friendly. ii assumes the form Of
q feeling OF obligation that tho ianitor
holds toward the tenant and serves
TO destroy that attitude of business: re-
lationship that should always exist nc
tween tenant and jautor The tin in
its action is similar to bribe and its
effect in such way becomes acutely ap-
parent when the landlord requires thc
ant either in land dlord tenant case or
an accident case.
Evil Should BE Stopped
"Thc jantor obligated to the tenant
for gratulties received and with ain eve
20 future favors is reluctant to assist
the owner in the case and in this way
What sometimes may be the star evi-
dcncc, can become 50 bluntcd and in
effective q TO hc utterly useless. or
actually harmful. The owner through
such iniideiity may stand very sori-
Gus loss especially if The ease be one
OF liability. which it generally is.
The anitor can be likcncd to a
public official whose acccptancn OF
gratuitics only stunts hi, conscience
and sense Of duty which in turn onl,
affects his employer.
Landlords TO safeguard their nwr
interests and the interests Of thci,
tenants must stop iantors from ac.
cepting gratui.ies. A $, stem of this
k'ud can work no good either way, the
Only one really proGtjnr being tho
lanitor As far a. that worthy is con.
ccrned il should be imprc ssed upon hi>
mind tha, the landlord is his biggest
Upper ard accepting favors from ten
ants would only impcril his job tic
viii then strive TO please his landlord
and pleasing him, he must pcrforce
please the tenants.
Let us start to eradicate this evil
Post conspicuously wherever tenants
can see signs wordod as follows or tc
ke effect:
"Janitor is not allowed TO accco,
TIPS or gratuitics in any fo~m. SO
Letting or accepting such will caus
his prompt smissal'