Know your rights

The city arms tenants and landlords with information

By Jessica Collier

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Did you know your landlord is required by law to give you at least 24-hours notice before making non-emergency repairs, like fixing your leaky toilet?

Did you know your landlord is required to provide screens in every window, but only from April Fools' Day until Halloween?

Did you know that your landlord can file a complaint against you with Inspectional Services?

Did you know that kids can't fly?

Most people don't. That's why Indira Alvarez, housing manager with the city's Inspectional Services department, holds a seminar on the fourth Thursday of every month. The "Rental Property Survival Seminar" is for anyone from tenants to landlords to property managers, and its purpose is to ensure that people are informed of their rights and responsibilities in the rental arena.

"I'm very passionate about education," said Alvarez at last week's seminar, which drew a rather talkative audience of 13, many of whom were anxious to discuss their rental property problems.

One landlord had leased an apartment to four tenants, but it is now occupied by eight people.

Leroy Alleyne, of Alleyne Property Management, said that some of his tenants disconnected all their smoke alarms because they smoke too much pot. Alleyen attended the seminar "to gain more information," and to learn how to better communicate with tenants.

Alvarez said that it's important that landlords, tenants and property managers understand the law and get legal advice when they need it. "Ignorance is not an excuse for the law," she said. To prevent ignorance, Alvarez distributed a nifty packet of resources for tenants—flyers and fact sheets that she assembled from around 15 different government agencies and divisions.

Alvarez stressed the importance of the landlord outlining everything in the lease, so that all expectations are clear. But when things don't go as planned, a tenant has the right to report them to Inspectional Services without warning their landlord first.

When that happens, the city works first try to open the lines of communication between the tenant and the landlord or property manager. Alvarez emphasized that the best way to solve problems is through dialogue between the people directly involved in the dispute.

Erin Christiansen, program director with the Boston Public Health Commission's Childhood Injury Prevention Program, was a guest speaker at last week's seminar. She addressed the importance of protecting toddlers by installing window guards in apartment windows, and said toddlers are most at risk. "They're learning to explore their environment and they don't have the mental capacity to access a lot of the risks," she said, adding that usually two or three kids fall out of windows each spring/summer season in Boston.

Rachel He, 26, attended the seminar because she is in the process of closing on a property, and wants to start learning about the responsibilities of renting out to tenants. "I am a tenant that's going to be a landlord soon," she says. "If we have tenants, we want to know their rights, as well as our rights, and we want to be well informed before we get into the situation."