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Who Inspects New Residences?
DJ-99
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I am moving into an apartment that is new construction. Apparently, before people are legally allowed to live in there, some type of inspection has to be made to make sure it is habitable (this makes sense). I need to know who would be making this inspection, to get in contact with them.
I live in the city of Boston. I will call city hall right now, but this is urgent, so I am trying to find this out any way possible.
Thanks.
EDIT: ok I am calmed down now, but essentially this is the issue. I was told I could move into my new apartment this Saturday the 25th, even though my lease starts August 1st. Great, I book tickets to be out of town on the 1st. Today, my landlord tells me I cannot actually move in, b/c an inspection has to take place before a resident can live there, or else he will be fined. This seems to be the relevant city code.
City of Boston Code Ordinance CBC 9-1.3 requires that property owners get newly rented apartments inspected prior to or within 45 days of rental and certified by the Housing Inspection Division. This ordinance allows the City to bring rental units into compliance with the State Sanitary Code in a manner that is beneficial to property owners and tenants. Failure to comply with this requirement is punishable by fines of $300 per month.
This seems to fly in the face of my landlord, as it says the inspection can take place up to 45 days after I move in. I guess, do other people agree with my take on the situation?
Essentially, I am boned if I can't move in before this inspection, and I need to convince my landlord that it is ok for me to move in this weekend, and he won't be in any trouble with the city.
I live in the city of Boston. I will call city hall right now, but this is urgent, so I am trying to find this out any way possible.
Thanks.
EDIT: ok I am calmed down now, but essentially this is the issue. I was told I could move into my new apartment this Saturday the 25th, even though my lease starts August 1st. Great, I book tickets to be out of town on the 1st. Today, my landlord tells me I cannot actually move in, b/c an inspection has to take place before a resident can live there, or else he will be fined. This seems to be the relevant city code.
City of Boston Code Ordinance CBC 9-1.3 requires that property owners get newly rented apartments inspected prior to or within 45 days of rental and certified by the Housing Inspection Division. This ordinance allows the City to bring rental units into compliance with the State Sanitary Code in a manner that is beneficial to property owners and tenants. Failure to comply with this requirement is punishable by fines of $300 per month.
This seems to fly in the face of my landlord, as it says the inspection can take place up to 45 days after I move in. I guess, do other people agree with my take on the situation?
Essentially, I am boned if I can't move in before this inspection, and I need to convince my landlord that it is ok for me to move in this weekend, and he won't be in any trouble with the city.
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Going to talk to him at 8am in the morning, hopefully get this straightened out. Apparently if I have any furniture in there when the inspectors come, he will get in big trouble (according to him). Need to find a solution to this mess.
And yes, his ass is grass if you appear to be living there when the inspectors come through.
Sorry, I should probably clarify. I'm not concerned about whose responsibility it is, I'm concerned about legally moving my stuff in this Saturday.
He told me I could move in on July 25. Great. Got my Uhaul set up, my move-out from my old place, etc.
Now, he is saying I cannot move in until August 1 (when my lease officially begins) because these inspections have not yet taken place. I cannot move in until the inspections have been completed.
You signed a lease for 1 Aug, right?
So even if you physically can occupy the building before then you legally can't.
I would think he is correct in that assertion.
The issue is that my landlord said I can move in a week early, before the lease starts. He apparently did not schedule these inspections correctly, as they were supposed to be taken care of before the 25th, but now will not be taken care of until the 31st.
I know I have no legal right to force my way into the apartment a week ahead of my lease.
I imagine it is these 3: sanitary, fire, electrical. Thank you.
I am wondering if it is worthwhile to talk to the people who would be in charge of each of these inspections, show them my current lease, which runs until July 31st, just try to explain to them I am not actually living there (there won't even be a bed in there, just boxes and stuff), and basically plead for mercy.
Your life isn't the only concern. There's also the concern of your property being destroyed in an accident and you trying to sue someone.
I doubt they would allow you to sign anything to change that (like a contract saying you wont sue).
Not to freak you out or anything, but it's not atypical to do multiple rounds of building inspections.
And if you, the tenant, starts calling these inspectors up they're probably going to ignore you. You're not the building owner and they don't have to talk to you and may actually take offense from you trying to pressure them into doing their jobs faster. Remember it's not just this building they're inspecting and their schedules may be more full than they'd like already.
Right. At this point I'm just trying to find an equitable solution to all this. If I can't move in on the 25th, it's certainly not the end of the world, just a gross inconvenience. Nonetheless, I would really like to try to find a legal, safe way to move in 2 days from now. Not sure how to proceed.
I guess really I'm just pissed at my landlord for either lying to me or being ridiculously unorganized so close to my move-in (I asked him 5 days ago if I could move in the 25th and he said yeah no problem).
Building Inspections consist of the following categories:
Fire
Plumbing
Electrical
Structural
Mechanical
Low Voltage (Depends on Authority Having Jurisdiction)
Once all of these get their Final Inspection signed off, the Contractor/Builder gets a Building Final. You do not get your C of O's until the Building Final is signed off by the AHJ. If the owner doesn't have C of O's before the 25th, you can not legally occupy this building. There's unfortunately no way around it for you.
I can tell you what probably happened. The General Contractor for the building expected all of his trades to have their finals signed off by a certain date, and relayed that date to the Developer/Owner. Finals did not get signed off in time for whatever reason (a myriad of possibilities), meaning no Building Final, which means no C of O's. The Developer was apparently hasty in telling future tenants when these building would be ready for occupation, or just doesn't understand the process. Both of these happen all the time.
EDIT: C of O = Certificate of Occupation
He clearly needs to make sure a Ghost Inspector is hired.
I mean, I've been here a year, but the real issue is that I am going to a huge important family function on August 1. So, either way, I was going to have to try to move in early and just hope it worked out. Now I just have to hope and pray I can do it July 31 before my flight.
I'm sure the guy was just trying to be nice, but he was so 100% sure that I could move in then, I didn't think there would be any problems. Oh well. Live and learn I guess.
In Boston there are always problems. Never believe anything, ever, your landlord tells you unless it's in writing. My suggestion if you can't move-in early is put everything in storage/at friends houses and move it in when you get back. The same goes for Uhaul on big move-in dates, just because you get a confirmation don't plan on having it when they say. Moving in this city is war.