Residents battle fent hikes at Stoneham House apartments
Published on July 26th, 2000
Residents of the Stoneham House apartments on Central Street have organized to fight rent hikes by absentee landlord James Batmasian of Boca Raton, Fla.
A letter from Dennis Joy of Cambridge-based Investments Limited, the apartment management, dated July 11, 2000, told residents that their rents would increase from $100 to $280 after their leases ended on Aug. 31. The letter said tenants had to respond by July 21, or the landlord would start showing their apartments to prospective new tenants.
"This is not enough time to find a place to live. Can they do this?" one resident asked.
Joy was ready for questions about the hike. He said that heat and hot water are included in the rent, and Stoneham House uses natural gas.
"Natural gas prices have doubled, and more increases are projected (as seen in a recent USA Today article)," Joy said. "That's part of why rents are going up."
Joy also said that tenants who had previously paid a half security deposit would be allowed to do the same under the new rates.
But tenants said they felt bullied.
"We have pets, and if we can't afford the rent here, where else can we bring pets these days," asked one concerned tenant.
Tenants questioned the legality of the letter's short notice.
"It's not illegal, but it is unfair...," said Stoneham attorney Ellie Decker, the pro bono advocate of the tenants. She spoke before a meeting of around 20 tenants at the Public Library last Wednesday night. "...but a lot of things are unfair," Decker added.
Residents acknowledged that the owner can hike the rents, and the notice has withstood a court challenge, but tenants made some comments that piqued Decker's interest.
Decker said some of the rental practices of Batmasian and Investments Limited may have violated the law.
Residents recounted a litany of questionable management practices, including entering apartments without permission and failing to notify tenants about the location and interest rate of security deposit accounts.
"We are going to challenge the landlord in court," said John Mooneyhan, the resident organizer.
Joy said he was not sure what the standard of notification was for entering a tenant's apartment, but he was sure no one violated it. He also said that all tenants had received receipts specifying the bank and account number of security deposits upon signing their leases.
"It's been awhile. Maybe they forgot," Joy said.
Decker advised the tenants to take their individual cases to court separately because of the diverse nature of tenant claims.
Under the law, tenants who do not renew their leases and pay the new rent by Sept. 1 will be considered tenants at sufferance and be subject to immediate eviction proceedings.
If tenants do not have new leases, Joy said he plans to show apartments immediately "with proper notice to tenants" and begin the eviction process on Sept. 1.
Decker said that judges are often sympathetic to tenants, and, thus, eviction proceedings don't always go as quickly as landlords threaten.
The Stoneham House complex includes the three-level buildings at 180, 182, 200, 202, 220 and 222 Central St. Residents live in studio, one- or two-bedroom units. Under the existing leases residents pay from $700 for a lower level studio to $950 for a top floor two-bedroom unit.
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