Threat of media exposure forces landlord to fix heat

[flashl]

Mortgage companies have restored heat at two foreclosed Boston apartment buildings where pregnant women were living in cold and potentially unsafe conditions.

Karla Herrera, who gave birth last week, returned to her Roxbury apartment Sunday with a newborn daughter. The temperature inside was set to 74 degrees. The new landlord, IndyMac Bank, had also replaced the missing lock on the building's front door.

Shareka Murdaugh gave birth to a girl Christmas Eve. Before she left for the hospital, the radiator in her apartment on Humboldt Avenue, also in Roxbury, was fixed by the new landlord, GMAC Financial Services.

"They finally came," Murdaugh said. "They even shoveled the front walk."

...

Massachusetts requires landlords to heat buildings to 68 degrees by day and 64 degrees at night. The state also requires landlords to provide tenants a contact number.

Herrera and Murdaugh both went without heat for several weeks. The women struggled to reach local representatives of the companies that took possession of their buildings after the prior owners defaulted on mortgages.

In each case, the first response to their complaints was incomplete. IndyMac arranged to replace much of the heating system in Herrera's building, but the company did not replace a broken thermostat in her apartment. GMAC arranged for the delivery of oil to Murdaugh's building, but that didn't help because the radiator didn't work in her bedroom.

The companies solved those problems after being contacted by the Globe.

Boston Globe - Read Full Text

[bobbolink]

1. Wish it was possible to get redress of failure to fix pollution problem, and abuse in

Section 8 buildings.

I fear it would take a really powerful lawyer to get something done.

Hurrah for whoever reported it to the media!

[Panchojackson]

2. kick n/t

[knitter4democracy]

3. Whoa. No heat in this winter?! That landlord needs to be taken to court.

I'm glad for the media pressure, but a landlord that lets anyone, let alone a preggers mama, go through this winter without heat needs to be sued. It's been a very cold and snowy winter, with temps here often going below zero at night (I think Boston's been a wee bit warmer but not much). No one should be without heat in temps like that or anywhere near that.

It shouldn't take media pressure and boycotts and lawyers to get landlords to do their jobs. It's sad that it does too darn often.