entino’s four-bedroom Apt. 36 at 723 St. Nicholas Ave.

Craigslist has removed Florentino’s latest postings because of Horn’s tenacious expose of what she calls “a fraudulent New York nightmare.”

“I don’t want any more out-of-towners going through the hell we went through,” says Horn, a publicist from New Hampshire. “When I saw the Craigslist ad in July for a $975 bedroom in a four-bedroom apartment with a washer and dryer I thought my New York dreams had come true.”

Horn says before she signed a lease with Florentino, “who said he worked for Bank of America, which I confirmed, and that he owned the apartment.”

She asked if there were any bug problems. “Jensi said absolutely not,” Horn says. “I paid him a month’s rent in cash and a month’s security in check as he required.”

She roomed with Jensi, Justin Elszasz, a Columbia mechanical engineering doctorate student from Ohio, and Xiangyi Lin from China, a lab manager in stem cell research at Cornell Medical Center.

“The rent included utilities,” Horn says. “Then the street locks broke. Bringing scary loiterers. We had roaches. Water leaks. Mold the size of mushrooms growing on the walls. The washer broke, causing flooding. It went unrepaired. I started getting bitten by what I thought were mosquitoes. I bought screens.”

Elszasz and Lin confirm all this.

After five weeks of pestering Florentino to no avail, Horn called 311 and the city made the management company fix the locks. The tenants say on cold days they had little heat.

“On Nov. 2 Jensi moved out, and rented his room to a guy from Italy,” says Horn. “That day a Con Ed worker warned me we were scheduled for a non-payment disconnect. Time Warner cable/internet was shut off twice.”

Horn called the management company. “I learned that not only didn’t Jensi own the apartment but that it was rented to a Jensi Tejada, not Florentino. And they said our subleases were illegal.”

By Thanksgiving, Horn and her roommates were still getting bitten by “mosquitoes.”

“On Dec. 2, 2011 I woke up from a bug biting my hand,” she said. “I caught it and preserved it in Scotch Tape.”

When an exterminator came that morning to spray for roaches Horn showed him the bug. “He told me it was a huge bedbug,” she says. “Advanced in stage, which meant an infestation.”

Horn says she soon learned that the apartment had been inadequately treated in March just once instead of with follow-up visits.

“I was in Copenhagen at the time,” says Elszasz. “Jensi never told me about the bedbug issue when I returned.”

“Jensi told me he would tell Justin about the bedbug treatment in March,” says Li.

“It was Jensi’s obligation by New York law to inform all tenants about bedbug history,” Horn says. “He didn’t.”

When reached, I asked an agitated Jensi Florentino/Tejada which was his real last name. “I have two last names,” he said. Asked which name is on his lease, he said it was nobody’s business. Asked about Horn’s and Elszasz’s bedbug accusations, he said his apartment was never treated for bedbugs “until Kathy Horn brought them in.” He said he’s suing Horn for changing his apartment lock, causing him to be homeless.

He hung up before I could get him to answer more direct questions.

“We had a bedbug treatment by Dial-A-Bug on Dec. 8,” Horn says. “We lived out of plastic bags and plastic tubs. The second treatment was Dec. 20. There’s a third scheduled for Jan 13.”

She won’t be there for that one.

Horn, Elszasz and Lin have relocated together.

Last week, Horn contacted Craigslist after discovering Florentino had posted multiple new ads. The postings were removed.

“I just want to make sure trusting out-of-towners like us don’t pay Jensi Florentino $4,000 a month to go through the same New York hell we lived through,” Horn says.

dhamill@nydailynews.com



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/roommates-campaign-landlord-bedbug-hell-st-nicholas-ave-article-1.1002060#ixzz1irOlm17U

ived bites, he decided to only treat his and the other roommate's room using some product he likely bought and implemented himself. No professionals called, no proper methods used, no cleaning, laundering of clothes, etc. Upon my return from the trip he DID NOT INFORM me that these actions had been taken.

It wasn't until December 2011 that the real nightmare began. After Jensi had moved out (while still holding the lease) we all received bug bites. (This is after 3 separate individuals had at one point or another moved into the apartment having been told that the apartment never had bed bugs.) We all followed the recommendations of the exterminator which took considerable amount of time (I was finishing a graduate degree and my roommate works from home, so we both lost a lot of precious time dealing with all of this, plus the incredible stress of having a harassing fraud for a roommate.) We withheld rent because of this and heat and hot water issues.

Do not move into this building.

Our leases were under Jensi Florentino. We thought this was the nightmare. It only got worse.

My roommmates and I were getting some bites durning the month. We had no idea why. On December 2, 2011 I awoke to a bed bug on me. Fortunatley, the exterminator was due to be at the apartment because we had roaches. He confirmed what had been on me was a bed bug.


Our nightmare became worse. We discovered that the apartment had bed bugs earlier in the year during March of 2001. Jensi Tejada / Jensi Florentino willfully and purposely lied to me and witheheld the facts.

One of my roomamates who lived at the apartment in March had never been told of the bed bug outbreak. He had been away during the week of treatment. The treatment and process of dealing with the bed bugs had not been thorough back in March. Jensi Florentino or Jensi Tejada did not treat the outbreak correctly. This help to lead to a new outbreak.

Speaking with the exterminator ,we found out that the management company who also has several names ( Dreyfus Reality, 723 Saint Nicholas Reality or Atlas Properties) does not treat adjacent apartments when outbreaks occur. The building has 40 units. This is one of thereasons bed bugs keep occuring here. They choose the least expensive method.

When I informed Jensi Florentino/ Jenis Tejada of the bed bugs bed-- he called me a liar. It took Dial A Bug to push the mangement compnay to set up the treatment. When I called the office and spoke with Annie she did not call Dial A bug immediatly that morning--- as she said she would.

Our first treatment was on Decmber 8, 2011. The exterminator found many many bugs through out the apartment. All my roommmates and I were bit throughout Novemeber and December. We went through two treatments--the last one was on December 20th. We had to clean everything we owned. We have lived out of plastic bags--containers and had a strict routine we had to follow entering and leaving the apartment. Basic living was challenging.

We posted notices to advise our neighbors and the notices were torn down.

Jenis Florentino / Jensi Tejada could care less. He did nothing to assit us. He constantly called me a liar despite my having actual bed bugs in tape. He harrassed all of us and bullied me to the point that I fled the apartment on December 30,2011. As I was packing-- I discovered several more live bed bugs on my bed. Now the apartment will be treated a thrid time in mid January.

Unfortunately, my roommates and I have lost much. All of the my furniture, some purses, shoes, books, suitcases-- I have had to let go of due to the bed bugs. The building turns out to be infested with them. Apartment 6 has an awful case the exterminator informed my roommmates and I on December 20, 2001. The exterminator informed us ther were a total of 5 apartments being treated for bed bugs on different floors and yet other apartments are not being treated.
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The last 60 days have been hell. We have had to fight for heat--hot water--treatments for bed bugs etc. Retaliation has been played out. Only a handful of nights did we have heat provided by the radiators.

The harassment increased greatly. This man purposely lied to us about bed bugs which is against the law and nothing has happened to him. He started to text and call demanding that we all move out by Dec. 31st. Even on Christmas. He told us if we did not move-- he would remove our belongings from the apartment. Where were we going to find a home so quickly? We just had another bed bug treatment. It is Christmas. God came through with a Christmas miracle.


None of us ever imagined that we would have rented from a person who was not who he said he was, that the building has been dealing with bed bugs throughout the year. Never imagined that my roommates and I would be harassed like we have been. I never imagined I would be bullied for standing up for living conditions. This man tried to break me because I stood up for basic living conditions and discovering the truth.

Jensi Florentino / Jensi Tejada is running an ad on Crisglist right now knowing full well the apartment has bed bugs and another treatment scheduled for January 13, 2011 by Dial a Bug. http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/roo/2777037309.html.

Today he lied to a free-lance journalist who inquired about the apartment. She asked: Are there any issues with bugs? I am a clean freak so that's why I am asking. He replied, " I never had that kind of issue."

This man purposely and willfully hides the facts about bed bugs and his identity. His lies made our lives a living hell on so many fronts. He needs to be stopped. Any ideas?

DO NOT MOVE INTO 723 SAINT NICHOLAS AVENUE. You will be in hell especially apartment 36.