NEW YORK (PIX11) \u2014 A devastating fire left tenants in a Hell’s Kitchen apartment building unable to use the fire escape, forcing them to navigate smoke-filled hallways.<\/p>\n
One former resident of 500 West 48\u00a0St. also told PIX11 News he’s still waiting for a rent refund after a vacate order left him homeless.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Stay connected with community stories that matter: Visit our homepage\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Flames billowed from second-floor windows in the overnight hours of April 15, destroying three apartments and prompting a vacate order from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development.<\/p>\n Ian Schmoke was among the affected tenants and says more than three months later, landlord Joseph Giaimo has not refunded the unused portion of that month’s rent.<\/p>\n “We were evicted on April 16, or 17, so it was pretty much exactly the halfway point,” Schmoke told PIX11.<\/p>\n New York law requires landlords to refund the unused portion of rent when catastrophic events like this happen, so says housing attorney Kian Daniel Khatibi.<\/p>\n “The landlord has a reasonable amount of time to get you their funds back,” Khatibi said, adding the word reasonable leaves a grey area, but he points to the 2019 rent law requiring landlords to refund security deposits within 14 days.<\/p>\n “Most landlords, if they’re advised by good counsel, would probably say respond to it and get it back within 14 days,” Khatibi said.<\/p>\n Giaimo did not respond to a phone call requesting an interview. At his 10th\u00a0Avenue office Tuesday, an unidentified woman answered the door. When asked about tenants’ requests for refunds, she said, “Nobody got in touch with us about that,” adding, “We’re handling it through our insurance company.”<\/p>\n