Realtor Responsibilities

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

Hi all-
Myself and my roommates rented a house near Davis Square, through a realtor in Davis Square. Since we moved in, there have been numerous issues, including woefully inadequate/unsafe electric arrangements. Shouldn't there be inspections every time an apartment changes hands? I'm surprised the realtor doesn't request up-to-date records from the landlord when they show the place.

Comments

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

There is no law in place that requires inspections every time an apartment changes hands. That would be really expensive and cumbersome to either do, or enforce. Instead, there are codes that apartments have to live up to (fire, health & safety) and it's assumed that they do at all times. If not, you have to inform the landlord, and they are obliged to fix it in a reasonable amount of time.

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

I'd suggest actually talking to the landlord (realtor only if they are actually managing the property) about it first. If there is no action you can threaten calling the board of health or fire inspectors etc- but leave the big guns for after reasonable communication has failed. It's possible the landlord doesn't even know.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

And it should be added that the definition of reasonable changes depending on what's wrong. Certain things like heat during the winter or locks year round are things that need to be fixed asap because the building is not considered habitable. Other things vary, some of which is explicitly codified, some less so.