(no subject)

[acertainsomeone.livejournal.com]

so has anyone here ever lived on conwell ave, and had eugina griffin as their landlady? if so do you have experiences with her coming into your apartment whenever the hell she wants?? i dont know what to do about this.

Comments

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

I live on Conwell Ave but (apparently fortunately) I have another landlord.

I assume you have tried talking to her about this already.

The applicable law (http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/186-15b.htm). I would suggest sending a certified letter, making sure to keep a copy. The letter should be brief and to the point - pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, ch.186, §15B, and your previous conversation(s) you are asking her to stop her unwanted intrusions.

I would then begin to document the times she is entering the premises. If she continues, even after the letter, I would find an inexpensive attorney to send basically the same letter on his/her letterhead.

Remember to document *everything*.

[Note: I am not an attorney. My father was, and that was enough to make me never want to practice law. Take my advice with that full knowledge.]

[ert.livejournal.com]

You can also start with a written note that isn't certified, doesn't cite specific laws, and just says "I'd like 24 hours warning before you want to enter the apartment." It's definitely not as forceful and less useful if you have to prove interactions later, but if you think her intrusions are absent-minded and not maliciously intentioned it could get your point across without going up to the next level of confrontation.

If that doesn't work, or if you suspect it won't be enough, definitely go directly to the certified, stronger letter. But sometimes people just need to be reminded politely.

Again, not a lawyer, just someone who's been a landlord and a tenant.

[acertainsomeone.livejournal.com]

thanks for the advice, maybe we will try the less forcefull letter to start off.

[saraheeyore.livejournal.com]

I sublet from someone in one of her buildings on Conwell one summer - we didn't have that problem, but we had others. No real advice, but I sympathize...

[acertainsomeone.livejournal.com]

ahh yeah, she freaks me out and makes me uncomfotable to be in my own apartment

[saraheeyore.livejournal.com]

...Yeah. We had problems with the stove not lighting, so she came up to investigate and spent about half an hour poking at the part the gas comes out of with a pin and waving a match. Not so reassuring.

[inthatoneway.livejournal.com]

Also not a lawyer.

Check your lease. There's probably a clause in there about when the landlord can visit and what sort of notice she has to give.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Whatever the lease says, it's not applicable if it's less notice than required by state law.

[marylu.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that's true. some laws apply only by default where there's nothing in the lease about that particular issue.

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

The law, cited above, specifically says it trumps anything in the lease that might say otherwise.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

As nowalmart pointed out, the Massachusetts laws protecting tenants are quite strong. In fact, the section of law we're looking at says "Any provision of a lease which conflicts with any provision of this section and any waiver by a tenant or prospective tenant of any provision of this section shall be deemed to be against public policy and therefore void and unenforceable."

The landlord is allowed to enter to make repairs, to inspect, and to show the apartment. That's it.

__________
Section 15B. (1) (a) No lease relating to residential real property shall contain a provision that a lessor may, except to inspect the premises, to make repairs thereto or to show the same to a prospective tenant, purchaser, mortgagee or its agents, enter the premises before the termination date of such lease. A lessor may, however, enter such premises:

(i) in accordance with a court order;

(ii) if the premises appear to have been abandoned by the lessee; or

(iii) to inspect, within the last thirty days of the tenancy or after either party has given notice to the other of intention to terminate the tenancy, the premises for the purpose of determining the amount of damage, if any, to the premises which would be cause for deduction from any security deposit held by the lessor pursuant to this section.

_______

While we're talking about the law, everyone knows that you're supposed to get annual interest payments from your last month's rent and security deposits, right?

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

what exactly does your lease say on the subject?
you should have something about quiet enjoyment/etc.

i would:

o (citing the law above), send a certified letter to the landlord (receipt/signature/etc), paper trail... and hell, if she's coming in... get a lock box or off site storage for this stuff...

o state something like: 48 hours/2-business days (sat/sun do not count as notice days), notice minimum for REQUEST of entry, notice does not constitute permission to entery; permission REQUIRED, in writing, before entry allowed. no permission, no entry unless a certified emergency. i believe you can pretty much deny the landlord entry, except as stated in the law, pretty much indefinitely...

o setup a webcam on a pc with security/motion tracking and point it at the door to log any occurences...

o change the locks.

o install a loud scary alarm screamer - share the shit out of her ;)

o if this keeps up and she just doesn't get it and if you catch her in the act, call the police. file a complaint with the appropriate renting agencies/etc and have her put on notice for this. it's wrong.

good luck!

#

[acertainsomeone.livejournal.com]

the lease says, and i'm recalling this b/c i dont have it on me at the moment, but 24 hours notice unless in case of emergency, abondonment of the apartment, and i think something about if they think the tennant is not taking care of the apartment properly?

the first time she entered it was to close the windows during one of those crazy thunderstorms...she left a note on the door and when we saw her claimed that no one had been home for 2 days, but we had, we are just quiet and both work long days, i usually leave by 7 and dont get home until 8-9. she did this again during another one of those random storms when it was extremely hot out, so yes we did leave the windows open a bit, i came home to find paper towels on our floor and the windows in the kitchen closed, but not the windows in my bedroom this time (leaving my bed completely wet, which i feel she purposefully left my window open and closed every other one in the apartment). then one day she chased my roomate down the street telling us that "if we had a wet futon or something we could throw it away on thursdays" i'm assuming she was refering to my bed? which um no i'm not throwing out b/c its my bed, and it dries. this is when we start to become paranoid, my roomate says she comes up to our door and listens into our apartment??? mind you, we have had not a single guest come over since we've moved in, we are barely ever even home, and have never ONCE been loud or done a thing to make her so suspicous of us. today i came home and my bed was moved away from the wall, i know it was not like this when i left this morning. so i'm really starting to get fed up. i want video camera survailence.

[acertainsomeone.livejournal.com]

actually i think its 48 hours notice

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Mostly it sounds like she's paranoid about mold. I would just close all the windows before you leave the house each morning, and perhaps tell her that.

I bet you'll have more luck pretending she's helpful, at least to her face. Something like "Thanks for helping us out with the windows, we're used to the freak storms now and are keeping them shut when we're not home." Then you can spring the "We're used to a lot of privacy, we'd like to ask you not to enter our apartment when we're not around" request on her.

[turil.livejournal.com]

That's completely insane. The apartment is yours legally, until you stop paying rent. She is not allowed to come in and close your windows! If she is concerned about water damage, she can ask you to find a way to keep the water off the floors/winsow sills.

I would send the official letter, since it sounds like she really doesn't have any respect for you, but may respect the law...

Oh, and we really need a place to rate landlords so that people can avoid the bad ones and patronize the good ones! Unfortunately, I think it might devolve into a pissing match, and not be very realistic.

[ravenword.livejournal.com]

I looked at one of her apartments and found it to be really really icky, in general, so I ended up renting our current place instead. She seemed like a nice enough lady, though. I found myself making up nice things to say about the apartment even though internally I was thinking "NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS!" Sorry about your issues. :-/

[acertainsomeone.livejournal.com]

haha well its too bad, this apartment is actually quite nice, i like it. at first she seemed nice to me too, but everyday it becomes more creepy instead

Advice from someone with a similar past experience

[0-pueo-0.livejournal.com]

So, I've not had the "pleasure" of being this woman's tenant, but given your description of some of her behavior, and given my experience with a previous landlady who had REAL ISSUES about inserting herself into our apartment, I encourage you not to negotiate with her and instead to insist politely but clearly and forcefully upon your right as a tenant to enjoy your home free from her non-emergency incursions into your apartment.

It's standard lease language for landlords to give 24-48 hours notice prior to entering an apartment for non-emergency visits, BUT this does not mean carte blanche entry for a landlord. This notice is for reasonable entrance--ie, to do something reasonably important, and not just to "check something"--and you do have the right to negotiate a time that is more convenient for you if the time she proposes to enter is not good for you.

A landlord's interference in a tenant's peaceful enjoyment of their home is a serious issue, and I know a local (Somerville) attorney who'd probably be willing to consult with you about what all of this means practically.

Most of us who make rental agreements--landlords and tenants--are pretty normal and courteous about such matters. But there are people out there who put their own psychological issues into this contractual relationship, sometimes to detrimental effect on the other party.

I know what I'd do differently if I had to go back and deal with that landlady who went kinda nuts on my roommate and me years ago--and the first thing I'd do is take a hardline, "strictly business" position on this. I took her crazy, invasive activity too personally, which is hard NOT to do when someone is marching into your apartment unannounced and/or leaving crazy, ranting messages on your voicemail. (Really, it did happen.) But this is really just about insisting on good boundaries--after all, by renting to you, she did agree to trading the peaceful enjoyment of the apartment for your money. She needs to be informed of this and, if nothing changes, she should face the monetary and legal consequences. Good luck.