Grounds for Filing a Criminal Complaint
Some landlords act in ways that violate criminallaws. If your landlord breaks into your apartmentwithout your consent, assaults you, or commitsany other serious offense, call the police at once.Ask the police to seek a criminal complaintagainst your landlord. When the police requestthat a criminal complaint be issued, they arealmost always successful. For more informationabout criminal cases, see Chapter 14: Using theCourt System - Criminal Cases.
Unfortunately, judges rarely enforce criminallaws against landlords. The prospect of facinga criminal complaint, however, may preventsome landlords from committing criminal acts.What follows is a summary of criminal laws mostfrequently violated by landlords.