Legal Advice Needed

[StevieD]

I am afraid I need some legal advice.

Unfortunately it appears that all of the landlords in Boston do not have the integrity, honesty and, class of character as Beantown Jim.

My son is a starving musician and as such rented an apartment from Star Realty in Boston. He paid first and last months rent plus a half of month as a security deposit. His lease was for a year.

A few months ago the apartment became infested with flies! Not regular houseflies but something the building super called Sewer Bugs. They told him they would have to fumigate his place. He spent that weekend sleeping on my couch.

When he returned to his apartment there were more flies. They told him there was a problem with a pipe and they were coming in thru the bathroom wall. It would take them about a week to fix it. So it was back to my couch for a week.

Every time he went in there to get his mail there appeared to be more and, more flies even though they would fumigate and ?clean? the apartment.

This went on for a month. Finally he told them he considered the lease to be broken and he was going to find another place to live. They did offer another apartment in the same building that would be available but they understood his position and said they wouldn?t have any problem breaking the lease.

We finally got all his stuff moved out and the flies where still there. In fact a few even found there way into my house, probably from his clothes or hidden in his furniture.

He sent them a letter asking for his last months rent, and the two weeks of the previous month that he couldn?t live there, plus his 2-week security deposit. A total of two months. Which I thought was more than fair because we had to clean all his clothes and linens plus the furniture, plus find a new apartment and come up with the two months rent and security deposit for them. But he just asked for the two months rent.

The problem now is that those Slumlords of the Flies, Star Realty, have not returned his money. They do not even return his phone calls.

My question to the Barristers of Madjacks, or anyone, is how should he go about collecting this money?

 

[loophole]

i'm not familiar with the system in mass, but, since the sum in dispute is not large enough to justify hiring an attorney, i would check into what kind of small claims court is available to here your claim. most every state has some kind of system in place where pro se litigants can file their claim and appear without an attorney to ajudicate claims under a certain amount, usually around $2500. the clerk of court should have forms to use for filing and probably some printed instructions.

 

[acehistr8]

Stevie, sorry to hear of the troubles. I ran into some of my own when I first rented my place and though I am not a lawyer my fiance is and did most of the work for us.

First thing I would suggest is look online for something that is in Virginia called the Landlord/Tenant Act. It is the basic state laws dictating your rights and the rights of the landlord in a number of particular situations. It may give you some answers.

Also, try to make some calls to the Massachusetts Board of Health, they may be able to give you some answers in terms of whether or not they are in violation not just of the lease but of state law.

Personally, and this is just based on my own experience, I would be happy they allowed you to break the lease and move on. If you decided to take action against them (for what is a small amount relative to the amount of the whole lease), they may very well say OK you want to play it that way, you cant break the lease and if you do you owe use for all the unpaid rent you would have had to pay. Generally if you take offensive action towards them, they will probably rescind any offers made towards you and stick you with everything. And unless they signed a piece of paper that allowed you to break the lease, they still have your signature on a legal document that says you will pay XXX for the next 12 months. It probably doesnt say on there they will keep it free of Sewer Bugs. I know it sucks, I really do, but that is how the courts will look at it unless you guys can prove a clear violation of the law - which is why I would try the Board of Health.

My opinion: Consider it a small victory they allowed you to move out, and find another place to live. I dont know what kind of resources Massachusetts has for due dillegence and checking out companies backgrounds, but I would always rent from a company that I either knew personally or knew a guy that had rented there before. You just take too many chances with something like this.

I found this page that might help:
http://www.state.ma.us/consumer/Info/lndldtnt.htm

It looks like part of the code does say under Landlord Responsibilities:
Infestation: You must maintain the common areas and apartments free from rodent, insect and other infestation if there are two or more apartments in the building.

There are several phone numbers on there as well.

 

[loophole]

i don't know that i agree that he should be happy they let him "break the lease." the fly situation and their inability to remedy it within a reasonable time would be considered a breach and/or a constructive eviction in most jurisdictions.

 

[acehistr8]

I agree that he shouldnt just be happy with it and move on, but in the past when I have seen these types of things happen, occasionally the landlord will spike back and get real nasty. They probably have a number of attorneys who could easily bury you in more costs that you are attempting to recover.

It does say the lanlord is responsible for keeping the apartment free of infestation. Its worth at least calling the State offices about and getting an opinion from someone who is familiar with these types of cases, for free. As soon as you hire an attorney at even $200 on the low side, in one day you are probably into them for more than you are trying to collect. Thats why its hard in these cases to usually collect the full amount. Most people wont go after shady landlords because the costs far outweigh the resulting settlement.

 

[StevieD]

Thanks for the advice guys. I am ready that Landlord/tenantAct but I do not see anything about infestation or fit to live. It does say they have to supply hot water etc.
I did not even know about that.
If he does decide to pursue action it would be thru small claims.

 

[SixFive]

small claims court is your best rememdy. Sounds like the defendant is big enough that collecting money won't be a problem should he win. He needs to get his timetable of events together, have several witnesses, and I surely hope that he has pictures or even better would be a good video. Hope he wins, and he needs to file right away.

 

[StevieD]

He does have a video.

 

[AR182]

stevie,

sorry to hear about your kids problem.

i know an expert on various state laws pertaining to landlord/tenant relationships.he is like the landlord/tenant answer man. i use him as an "advisor" for my properties in az. & charges callers $10 per call.this guy is from mass. & relocated to calif. I just called his office & spoke to his wife who told me the guy will be home tonite. hopefully i will hear from him tonite or tommorrow morning.
i will read what you wrote here to him & see what he has to say. and if you want I will ask him if i can give you his phone number.

let me know if this will help you & you want me to continue.

 

[StevieD]

That is very kind of you AR. Your help is very much appreciated. But before going to any trouble let's see if the Landlord answers and what his answer is. But if he ignors this latest phone call I could definetly use your friend.
You are one of the class guys on here.

 

[AR182]

stevie,

thanks for the nice words. but it's my pleasure.

the guy is going to call me back anyway, so lets see what he says.

i dislike with a passion landlords who treat tenants like shit. when i was working in brooklyn, my office's next door neighbor was a disgusting slumlord. there was a movie about him staring joe peci. his sentence was that he had to serve time in one of his apt's. it was worst than being in jail, because the toilet bowl was broken, pipes rusted, etc. it was pretty grusome.

in the future you should advise your son that he should try to have any correspondence with a landlord in writing.

 

[StevieD]

AR, unfortunately like most kids he seems to like learning things the hard way. Not that he was ever a bad kid but like all of us I guess when young we think we know it all.

 

[beantownjim]

ME BEING A LANDLORD IN THE CITY OF BOSTON I HAVE THE ANSWER FOR YOU I JUST DONT KNOW IF IT IS TO LATE.WHENEVER I GET A DEADBEAT TENANT WHO IS TRYING TO BEAT ME FOR RENT OR WANTS A REFUND OR BREAK A LEASE ITS SIMPLE FOR THE TENANT.

ALL YOUR SON HAD TO DO WAS CALL INSPECTIONAL SERVICES DOWNTOWN BOSTON THEY WOULD HAVE CAME OVER LOOKED AT THE PROBLEM AND WRITTEN UP THE LANDLORD AND GIVE HIM 5 DAYS TO FIX THE PROBLEM,OF COURSE THE TENSION IS BUILDING NOW BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT SO THE WORK NEVER GETS DONE THEN THE CASE WILL GO TO BOSTON HOUSING COURT WHERE YOU WILL SEE A MEDIATOR AND WORK OUT A FAIR SETTLEMENT FOR BOTH SIDES.IF THIS FAILS YOU WILL GO BEFORE A HOUSING COURT JUDGE WHO LOVES TEMANTS SO YOU WILL WIN THE CASE HIS NAME IS JUDGE DAHER WHAT A F-CKING BALL BUSTER THIS GUY IS

 

[beantownjim]

STEVIE TELL THE KID TO COME SEE ME ILL HOOK HIM UP WITH A NICE APARTMENT IN A SAFE AREA OF DORCHESTER SAVIN HILL RIGHT NEXT TO U-MASS BOSTON.ILL EVEN WATCH THE KID FOR YOU IN CASE HE IS PICKING UP HOOKERS AND BANGING BROADS.SO STEVIE LET ME KNOW IF THE KID NEEDS AN APARTMENT I EVEN PROVIDE SECURITY (JOHNNY KNOCKDOWN)

 

[freelancc]

sounds like the kind of offer any discerning parent would welcome

 

[StevieD]

Thanks for the more than generous offer Jim but he has found a place. But we will keep you in mind if the need for protection does come up.

 

[AR182]

stevie,

i just got off the phone with my "advisor". we both agreed that it would be easier if you spoke to him directly. obviously i can't leave his phone number here, so if you would like send me an e-mail. he also told me that he would waive his $10 fee as a favor to me.
if you send me an e-mail, just make a mention of it here, because i don't always check my e-mails.

 

[djv]

I think you should scare em a little more. Tell them from so many flie bites your kid is haveing trouble breathing, bad headaches and a little dizzy. That doc is next in the pitcure. I would get there attention anyway possiable. They may beg you to take the money and go. I know sounds dumb. But who makes the most noise gets attention.

 

[cisco]

1. Small claims court

2. Beantownjim

 

[skulldog]

Stevie, I've been a Real Estate Broker for 15+ years and I maybe able to help.

1. All landlords have to provide property is habital and if it isn't, they have to provide you w/temporary housing(at their expense) for as long as it takes to fix the problem. If they didn't provide housing, then YOU MIGHT WANT TO REMIND THEM OF THIS.

2. You are going to have to either hire an attorney to send a nasty lawyer letter or go to the court house and start a small claim action.

3. Should you hire an attorney you may want file a 93A suit(which is the consumer protection law), and most businesses don't like getting involved in 93 A suits, because they usually lose and triple damages and attorney's fees are often rewarded.

I would start at the least a small claims court action ASAP, it's the cheapest way to go, you can always hire an attornet later.

GL

P.S. If this was already covered, then I appoligize.