This is a bizarre story about two New York tenants whose lease wasn't renewed after the building management company learned they had griped in an online forum -- open only to other tenants.
Rockrose Development Corporation markets itself as something of a cruise director, fostering a sense of fun and neighborhood spirit in its luxury rental buildings fitted with pools, barbecue grills and party rooms.
But one former tenant, David Griffiths, now thinks of the real estate developer as more akin to Big Brother.
Mr. Griffiths, an information technology consultant, and his wife, Katy — who is pregnant — had to move in November when Rockrose declined to renew their lease at its EastCoast waterfront development in Long Island City, Queens.
A Rockrose employee, he said, told him it was because he had posted critical comments about the building on the Internet.
That surprised Mr. Griffiths, who indeed had posted complaints, but on a Google Groups forum that he created — a tenants’ group accessible only to members whom he approved.
“Dave, we understand that you’re not happy living here, so we made the decision for you,” the employee said, according to Mr. Griffiths.
“It’s very ‘1984,’ ” said Mr. Griffiths, 38, a Briton who seems mystified to find himself part of the turbulent annals of New York landlord-tenant relations.
Sofia Estevez, the company’s senior vice president for marketing, said she approved the decision to part ways with the Griffiths. Ms. Estevez said that in Rockrose’s holdings across the city, some 6,000 units, there are about 10 tenants a year whom she deems more trouble than their rent money is worth.
“In these times, I try to renew everybody — unless somebody’s a real hothead and a troublemaker,” she said. “You could speak to any staff members in the building who would say that he was abusive, that he was unhappy from the time that he moved in.”
Mr. Griffiths denied having been abusive. He said that while he had often raised concerns with building employees — for instance, about extra fees for using grills on the terrace, which were eventually reduced — the discussions were always cordial, if sometimes spirited.
On perusing his file, the only evidence Ms. Estevez could cite of “troublemaking” was his refusal to pay fees for the gym and other amenities early in his tenancy, when the gym was not yet open. She said that she could not recall whether online postings were a factor, but that a Rockrose employee does monitor tenant complaints on the Web.
The Griffiths have since moved toward the opposite end of the real estate spectrum, trading Rockrose’s full-service glass tower for a walkup in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But their experience has left other EastCoast residents uneasy.
“I feel like I’m in the early chapters of a George Orwell novel,” said one tenant who also posted complaints on the forum and fears he is “next on the hit list.”
“If this is supposed to be like living on a cruise ship, call me seasick,” said the tenant, who asked that his name not be published, for fear of inflaming relations with Rockrose.