Hi,
I work with a disabled gentleman who lives in a multifamily apartment house. The apartment is owned by a private individual, not a management company, and he has been living there for approximately 2 years. This man has never had a working phone jack in his apartment. He had paid for his internet/cable provider to come in and set up his computer (we could not do this because he didn't have a working jack), and now his phone line is run through the dial up modem-there was never a telephone jack in his living room. The problem is, he has gotten rid of his dial up modem and computer, and will no longer have a land line. He has two non-working jacks in the apartment, and when he called the landlord to ask about repairing one or both of them, he was told that this was not his responsibility, and that the tenants before had configured the apartment that way, so he was stuck with the bill. His lease says he is responsible for the damage to equipment and fixtures, but I am not sure that a telephone land line qualifies as either. I can't imagine that it is legal to rent an apartment with no land line access. I have looked up all of the Mass Tenants Rights and laws, but haven't found anything about this. Can you please provide me with any information about this?
I work with a disabled gentleman who lives in a multifamily apartment house. The apartment is owned by a private individual, not a management company, and he has been living there for approximately 2 years. This man has never had a working phone jack in his apartment. He had paid for his internet/cable provider to come in and set up his computer (we could not do this because he didn't have a working jack), and now his phone line is run through the dial up modem-there was never a telephone jack in his living room. The problem is, he has gotten rid of his dial up modem and computer, and will no longer have a land line. He has two non-working jacks in the apartment, and when he called the landlord to ask about repairing one or both of them, he was told that this was not his responsibility, and that the tenants before had configured the apartment that way, so he was stuck with the bill. His lease says he is responsible for the damage to equipment and fixtures, but I am not sure that a telephone land line qualifies as either. I can't imagine that it is legal to rent an apartment with no land line access. I have looked up all of the Mass Tenants Rights and laws, but haven't found anything about this. Can you please provide me with any information about this?
