Habitability Concerns with New Apartment..... (Boston, Quincy: apartments, lease, house)

[Cutea]

Hello,
I just moved to an apartment in Quincy, MA about 2 weeks ago, and I am having some major issues. I am new to living in Massachusetts, so I have been researching tenants' rights here.

Since I moved in, there are multiple smoke detectors (at least 2) in my building that are loudly chirping due to low battery/technical problems.. They make this noise 24/7. I have to put on a fan, white noise machine, and wear earplugs to block out the incessant noise. I have asked my landlord twice verbally to replace the batteries/fix them, and he said he would send out his "repair guy", but this never happened. Then, yesterday, he said he would "find an electrician and send him out" to repair the smoke detectors, but that hasn't happened either. There's never any follow-up. Isn't having malfunctioning smoke detectors some kind of safety hazard???

It states in the lease that the "landlord is responsible for maintaining working smoke detectors and replacing batteries as needed" in bold print... He also owns the building across from mine, and you can hear smoke detectors in there chirping, too!

Then... only ONE of my electrical outlets works in the bedroom (out of 4 in total), and only one in the living room works... There are no overhead lights in the apartment, so I come home in the pitch black every night and can't plug in any lamps because the outlets don't work. And.... the front hallway/front of the house has no lights... There's an overhead light, but it's broken. I have also asked for this to be repaired, and it hasn't been. When I come home at night, I can barely see. I need to use a flashlight to get into the building.

What should I do next? I figured I would need to make these requests in writing. What if he doesn't fix these issues, can I break my lease? The landlord is obviously being neglectful. When I call him, he always says how "busy" he is. As an aside, my downstairs neighbor blasts very loud music past 11 pm on weeknights.. it's just one thing after another. I just want a safe, well-lit, quiet place to live.

[NJ to MA]

This landlord is obviously not providing minimal basic living arrangements. If it were just the batteries in smoke detectors, I would replace them myself and eat it. The non-working electrical outlets however goes well beyond that.

Talk is cheap. You need to inform the landlord in writing if verbal requests have failed. Use certified or registered mail with return receipt requested. Even email is better than verbal, though I'm not sure email would be considered a valid request in a court of law if it comes down to that.

If all else fails, does Quincy have some kind of housing authority or tenant board you can report these infractions to? Go to their town website and see if they have information regarding apartments and tenants rights.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by Cutea

Then... only ONE of my electrical outlets works in the bedroom (out of 4 in total), and only one in the living room works...

Please keep in mind that this, coming up, is not meant to be snarky, as in a support guy asking if your printer -- that's not printing -- is plugged in.

I understand that you don't have overhead lights in those rooms but is there a wall switch? That on/off wall switch might be connected to the outlets, turning them on/off. I've had apartments where rooms have not had an overhead light but I can turn on a lamp that's plugged in with the wall switch.

Good luck with your landlord and your neighbor. I hope that everything works out.

[sawyer2]

Chirping could just be the batteries needing replacement but it could also mean that the fire alarm is no longer working ....they do have a finite life.

I am a landlord of multiple properties in Boston and your landlord is in violation of state code in a few areas:

410.482: Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Alarms - states that 'Owners shall provide, install, and maintain in operable condition smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms in every dwelling that is required to be equipped ........'

By not repairing these in timely manner (which seems to be the case), this is considered to be one of the 'Conditions Deemed to Endanger or Impair Health' which specifically calls out smoke detectors.

So what do you do?
First of all, ALL correspondence between landlord/tenant should be in writing - avoids the he said/she said discrepancies later.
You could start by just changing the batteries yourself but if you are not comfortable doing that or can't reach them then contact the landlord in writing. State the dates of your previous requests and give him an ultimatum - fix it within 1 business day or you will report him. If no response, call the Quincy fire department and report fire code violation and request an inspection..... they do not take these lightly.



He is also likely in in breach of residential code for lighting violations - scroll down to 'Lighting and Electrical Facilities'
https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cissfsn/sfsnidx.htm

Quincy must have some housing authority that you could contact should the landlord not resolve the issues immediately.

[gf2020]

I'm sorry you are having problems with your new apartment. I hope you are at least enjoying your new job in Hull.

Sounds like your landlord needs a kick in the pants. Call the City of Quincy Code Enforcement Officer to make that happen:

https://www.quincyma.gov/govt/depts/...depts/code.htm

[Cutea]

DawnMTL:
There is a wall switch and I tried flipping it back and forth, but nothing happened. I think there's something wrong with the electrical wiring in the apartment. Why do some outlets work and not others?

sawyer2:
Thanks for your input. It was very helpful, especially since you are a landlord. I figured he was violating some safety codes.... In my lease, it states that tenants are NOT allowed to change smoke detector batteries, or touch them in any way. They're also very high up on the ceiling, and I don't have a ladder. So.. I am at my landlord's mercy. The weirdest thing is that he said he was going to call an electrician to fix them, but it's actually HIS responsibility, as stated in the lease. I'm thinking that if I don't hear anything tomorrow, I'll report it to the fire department. In the front hallway of our building, there's a "box" with lights that shows the working condition of all of the smoke detectors in the building, and two of the lights are yellow and indicate "trouble." That has to be safety hazard. not to mention, a noise nuisance, with the constant "chirping" sounds.

gf2020: Yes, I love my new job in Hull! But, this apartment leaves a lot to be desired. Thank you for the link.

At this point, I am going to send him a request in writing (tomorrow), and send it certified mail. Enough of the back and forth phone calls.. He's definitely a neglectful landlord.

[DawnMTL]

Originally Posted by Cutea

DawnMTL:
There is a wall switch and I tried flipping it back and forth, but nothing happened. I think there's something wrong with the electrical wiring in the apartment. Why do some outlets work and not others?

This is really bugging me now. (I know. It's bugging you even more. I get that.)

Most of the time, the wall switch is connected to only one (or two) of the outlets in a room -- and, to make it more complicated, only the top OR the bottom one, not both on the same two-outlet thingy. Did you plug in a lamp or radio, turn it to the ON position, and try it in all of your outlets, top and bottom? Also the wall switch might be "flipped," so try it up and down for each top and bottom outlet?

I so want this to work for you! I know how frustrated I'd be.

[Cape Cod Todd]

You could replace the batteries in the smoke detectors to solve that issue and keep the receipt to try and get your money back. While you have the detectors down look at the date that is printed on them. They should not be anymore than 10 years old.
You could call the Police on the loud music.
Plug a lamp into the outlets and flip the wall switches on and off, they might be controlling the power to them.


You pay rent, you have rights to "quiet enjoyment" and timely repairs to your apartment.

Contact the landlord one more time, give him a few days to comply and tell him you are going over his head for satisfaction and you will be calling Quincy town hall.
You could also try calling the Quincy fire department and ask them what should you do about the smoke detectors and they could probably tell you who to call at the town hall.
Good luck.

[Cutea]

Originally Posted by Cape Cod Todd

You could replace the batteries in the smoke detectors to solve that issue and keep the receipt to try and get your money back. While you have the detectors down look at the date that is printed on them. They should not be anymore than 10 years old.
You could call the Police on the loud music.
Plug a lamp into the outlets and flip the wall switches on and off, they might be controlling the power to them.


You pay rent, you have rights to "quiet enjoyment" and timely repairs to your apartment.

Contact the landlord one more time, give him a few days to comply and tell him you are going over his head for satisfaction and you will be calling Quincy town hall.
You could also try calling the Quincy fire department and ask them what should you do about the smoke detectors and they could probably tell you who to call at the town hall.
Good luck.

Hi Cape Cod Todd,
Unfortunately, I am forbidden from touching the smoke detectors... it says so in my lease. I also don't have a ladder, and they're up high on the ceiling. The landlord FINALLY gave me the name/phone number of the electrician, and of course, I had to set it up. He's there at the apartment now, but he said he can't figure out what's wrong with the outlets.... Hopefully he'll be able to fix them.

I was actually thinking of calling the fire department. There are multiple smoke detectors "chirping", and they obviously need attention. The landlord says that he owns "225 units" and he's too busy to take care of things.

[tamajane]

Originally Posted by Cutea

Hi Cape Cod Todd,
Unfortunately, I am forbidden from touching the smoke detectors... it says so in my lease. I also don't have a ladder, and they're up high on the ceiling. The landlord FINALLY gave me the name/phone number of the electrician, and of course, I had to set it up. He's there at the apartment now, but he said he can't figure out what's wrong with the outlets.... Hopefully he'll be able to fix them.

I was actually thinking of calling the fire department. There are multiple smoke detectors "chirping", and they obviously need attention. The landlord says that he owns "225 units" and he's too busy to take care of things.

LOL. Tell him to get a property manager. He needs to keep things up to code.