Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Massachusetts
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 05-11-2019, 07:49 AM
 
Location: Northeast US
115 posts, read 319,304 times
Reputation: 181

Advertisements

Good morning,



I have a question regarding Mass. laws. I live in a Condo building and for 5 days the elevator has been out of service. Every day there is a note saying it should be fixed tomorrow.

I live on the 4th floor and don't mind using the stairs. However, I have 2 elderly neighbors, 1 of which I know for certain is trapped in her apartment since she barely walks. I took her trash down for her this morning. She has been trapped in her apt for 5 days! She cannot take out her dog to use the bathroom so crap is sitting in piles in her living room, so my husband and I started offering to help pick the little dog up and bring it downstairs for relief.



Is there anything that can legally be done? Is the condo building owner justified simply because he writes notes and is putting them on the elevator on all floors? I'm very concerned for the large elderly community in our building, and I'm most likely going to be going grocery shopping for my neighbor today if it isn't fixed.



My heart goes out to my neighbors and I am just hoping there is something I can do. And trust me, I have already sent a letter to Property Manager. The only thing is I rent while most of the residents are owners. I am month-to-month so I cannot step on the Property Mngr. toes too much or I risk losing my lovely apt, right? So the note I wrote to the Property Manager was very, very polite.



Might anyone have a suggestion for a course of action? I've tried looking up elevator residential laws but I'm really not finding an answer to my question. Anyone have a similar situation? We had zero warning that this would happen so nobody was prepared and I'm concerned.



Thanks for any and all responses!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-11-2019, 12:34 PM
 
7,920 posts, read 7,811,466 times
Reputation: 4152
Elevator are *legally* required to be inspected annually in Mass. Is this the only elevator in the building? Does anyone beyond the first floor use a wheelchair?

Having said that there's nothing wrong with reporting maintenance issues in an apartment. Cheap landlords should be weeded out.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-11-2019, 12:58 PM
 
Location: The Moon
1,717 posts, read 1,806,937 times
Reputation: 1919
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdovell View Post
Having said that there's nothing wrong with reporting maintenance issues in an apartment. Cheap landlords should be weeded out.
They didn't specify that they condo is a rental, and it likely falls on an association instead of an individual. But who knows. Lots of details left out that matter.

But EaT ThE rIcH!!1!! amirite?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-12-2019, 12:24 PM
 
Location: Massachusetts
6,301 posts, read 9,642,323 times
Reputation: 4798
First of all I want to mention how lucky the elderly neighbor is to have someone like the OP looking out for them.

On to the legal issues, as Wolfgang has mentioned the building is likely a condominium run by an association. Perhaps, the elderly neighbor who owns their place can give the OP at least one name of a trustee. If the trustee is an owner occupant that would be the best one(s) to contact. Otherwise, if the OP is inclined, they can do some digging and do a search on the Massachusetts Registry of Deeds website for the county the building is located in. Do a search by property address and a document called the Declaration of Trust should pop up. If they are up-to-date on legal stuff, OP should be able to find the name of the current trustees there. Hope you are able to resolve this soon.

You might also want to get a cell phone picture of that note so you have something date stamped proving how long the elevator has been down.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-12-2019, 12:25 PM
 
Location: New England
1,054 posts, read 1,414,821 times
Reputation: 1831
If this really is a condo, then there's no landlord. You either have a hired management company, or the owners are doing it themselves as a committee. Say what you like about landlords, but when there isn't a clear building owner, who you gonna call?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-12-2019, 02:21 PM
 
5,298 posts, read 6,177,484 times
Reputation: 5480
Owners or operators of elevator served buildings usually have repair contracts with an elevator company. For X amount of money per month, the elevator service will come 24/7. They will also inspect the elevator machinery on a regular basis. Ask the building manager what company has the repair contract. Is the elevator hydraulic or traction (roped)?


https://www.mass.gov/orgs/board-of-elevator-regulations
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Massachusetts

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top