Jim Biek

Review of New York Habitat

I would STRONGLY advise against using NY Habitat b...

I would STRONGLY advise against using NY Habitat based on our experience with them. The New York office listed an apartment in Paris which we leased for 10 months. The website explains that all properties have been inspected and the landlords vetted by NY Habitat but we do not believe that they had devoted any real effort in this regard to the property we rented. They are selling a service providing listings for furnished properties to those needing to find accommodation in London/Paris/NYC from abroad with no chance to view them, usually for minimum periods of 1 month. On arrival the property was extremely dirty, fitted with half-broken furniture and the cupboards already full of the remains from previous tenants. The conclusion of the lease ended up in dispute with the landlord over return of our deposit and NY Habitat did dutifully chase her several times at our instigation. However, our requests for any greater help both adjudicating with the landlord and advising us on our potential recourses under French tenancy law were woeful from NY Habitat. They merely washed their hands of the matter and retained their hefty up-front fee of over 10% of the total rental contract. That amount of money for a listing on their website is questionable at best.