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My Living Room Is Covered In Lead Paint Dust

My Living Room Is Covered In Lead Paint Dust

My Living Room Is Covered In Lead Paint Dust

I live with two roommates in a flat in a late-1800’s Victorian in the Haight, 3 units total. The flat below us has been under renovation for a couple of months now, and two Tuesdays ago, that work entered our apartment. Without warning, I came home to a 3′ wide floor-to-ceiling slot cut in our wall for a flue for a new heater in the apartment below. Not only was there no warning given, they left our furniture out to be covered in plaster dust, and did not seal the room so our kitchen and halls were covered in plaster dust, too.

The hole is still not closed up (waiting for the building inspector), and it looks like it will be at least three weeks total that the living room is ”non-occupiable space” as defined by the contractor. So far he has agreed to pay for a professional cleaner to come in after all the work is done, but I am concerned that the dust will not come out of our sofa, making it unhealthy to use, and that our health and that of our cats has been put at risk by all the dust (no asbestos but I’ve heard the old plaster is pretty hazardous, and there’s almost certainly lead paint somewhere in the layers).

What is our recourse? I’d like to ask for a rent reduction for the days the living room is off limits, but do I ask for 100% reduction those days? Or a portion of the rent? How do I determine if the upholstered furniture needs to be replaced, and how would I evaluate the cost? I don’t want to unjustly bleed the guy ’cause he’s usually pretty friendly and harmless, but not having any warning and everything been done so poorly is really enraging!

Your landlord is neither friendly or harmless. He acts friendly when he wants to con you to get what he wants or, as in this case, get away with something illegal. He’s certainly not harmless. Just look around your living room and take a deep breath of lead. Your landlord is a cheap Cheese Ball who is trying to get the work done for the least amount of money. He doesn’t give a rat’s ass about your health or your belongings.

Buildings built in the late 1800s always contain lead paint. Lead was an additive to paint back then. People simply didn’t understand how harmful lead could be, especially in powder form. Lead is especially harmful to small children and swallowing paint chips or breathing lead dust can cause brain damage. If you have children, GET OUT NOW!

The Environmental Protection Agency has very stringent requirements for renovation projects that could be contaminated with lead. The EPA pamphlet, the Lead Safe Certified Guide to Renovate Right is a must read for tenants. Here’s the section about renovation protocols:

Federal law requires contractors that are hired to perform renovation, repair and painting projects in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 that disturb painted surfaces to be certified and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination. The work practices the contractor must follow include these three simple procedures, described below:

 

1. Contain the work area. The area must be contained so that dust and debris do not escape from that area. Warning signs must be put up and plastic or other impermeable material and tape must be used as appropriate to:
• Cover the floors and any furniture that cannot be moved.
• Seal off doors and heating and cooling system vents.
• For exterior renovations, cover the ground and, in some instances, erect vertical containment or equivalent extra precautions in containing the work area. These work practices will help prevent dust or debris from getting outside the work area.

 

2. Avoid renovation methods that generate large amounts of lead-contaminated dust. Some methods generate so much lead-contaminated dust that their use is prohibited. They are:
• Open flame burning or torching.
• Sanding, grinding, planing, needle gunning, or blasting with power tools and equipment not equipped with a shroud and HEPA vacuum attachment.
• Using a heat gun at temperatures greater than 1100°F.
There is no way to eliminate dust, but some renovation methods make less dust than others. Contractors may choose to use various methods to minimize dust generation, including using water to mist areas before sanding or scraping; scoring paint before separating components; and prying and pulling apart components instead of breaking them.

 

3. Clean up thoroughly. The work area should be cleaned up daily to keep it as clean as possible. When all the work is done, the area must be cleaned up using special cleaning methods before taking down any plastic that isolates the work area from the rest of the home. The special cleaning methods should include:
• Using a HEPA vacuum to clean up dust and debris on all surfaces, followed by
• Wet wiping and wet mopping with plenty of rinse water.
When the final cleaning is done, look around. There should be no dust, paint chips, or debris in the work area. If you see any dust, paint chips, or debris, the area must be re-cleaned.

The brochure also provides a hotline to report contractors who are not following the protocols. Call EPA’s hotline 1-800-424-LEAD (5323) and report the landlord and the contractor. If the work is not completed, you should also call a Housing Inspector with the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection to issue a violation based upon the habitability of the unit. File a complaint against the contractor with the California State Contractors License Board. I’m not sure how effective this will be but it’s worth a shot.

File a petition for decrease in services at The San Francisco Rent Board. I suggest you ask for a rent deduction of 100% of the rent for the days you were forced to live in what was, essentially, an uninhabitable unit. (Refer back to the EPA brochure.) You should also include any breaches of your quiet enjoyment–noise, fumes, inconvenience, etc.–for the ongoing construction.

How many times do I have to say it? Your landlord is not your friend! Your landlord does not care about you. To your landlord you are livestock. Your complaints fall upon his ears like the lowing of dairy cattle. When you’re no longer productive, that is not paying enough rent, you’re a commodity to be tossed out and rendered into dog food.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
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I Stopped Paying My Rent Because Of Maintenance Issues, Now I’m Getting Evicted

I Stopped Paying My Rent Because Of Maintenance Issues, Now I’m Getting Evicted

I Stopped Paying My Rent Because Of Maintenance Issues, Now I’m Getting Evicted

My landlord gave me a three day notice for not paying rent and I want to know if I should let it go and fight the eviction. We started renting the house four years ago, the first problem started the day we moved in with the heater not working properly this continued for a year until the landlord replaced the heater. Another time, the landlord took three months to fix broken flashing on the roof over my daughter’s bedroom. Every time it rained, it rained in my daughter’s room. I only me paid half rent during that time. The landlord and property management take their time on any request I make for repairs. Should I fight the eviction?

This is a great question. I hear versions of it all the time. My first response, without knowing all the facts, is almost always no.

We have a saying in the lawyer business, “It’s better to be a plaintiff in a lawsuit than a defendant.” Even though you may have a viable defense based upon what looks like the landlord’s violation of the implied warranty of habitability, the cost to defend an unlawful detainer could run tens of thousands of dollars and there is no guarantee that you will win.

Believe me, there are still judges out there who do not understand that breach of the warranty of habitability is a valid defense to eviction for nonpayment of rent, more than 35 years after the seminal 1974 California Supreme Court decision in Green v. Superior Court.

Your case could also be compromised by the fact that the landlord seems to have compensated you for some of the decreases in services by accepting less rent when the house was less habitable. The landlord is going to claim that he always repaired the conditions (eventually) and that he discounted the rent fairly as consideration for your inconvenience.

You don’t mention if you have notices of violation from the local code enforcement agency, nor do I know if all of your complaints have been made in writing. Those are key elements to a defense to an eviction. That’s one of the reasons why I harp on communicating in writing and calling a housing inspector.

If you live in San Francisco, you have an excellent venue to adjudicate your habitability claims–the San Francisco Rent Board. If you file a petition for decreases in services, you become the petitioner (“plaintiff “) in the case and the landlord has to defend against your claims. You don’t have to hire a lawyer to make your case at the Rent Board. In San Francisco, it is almost always preferable to pay the rent during the notice period and then file a petition at the Rent Board.

If you do not live in a city that has rent control, that’s usually a more compelling reason to pay your rent during the notice period. In general, courts in non rent controlled jurisdictions are even more hostile to tenants than they are here. If you pay the rent, then you will have time to strategize about how to make the landlord accountable, rather than only three days to figure out how to defend a lawsuit.

I should mention here that many landlords’ lawyers arrange to serve three-day notices to pay or quit on Fridays. Why? Because Saturdays and Sundays count. That way a tenant only has Monday to consult an attorney. Luckily the San Francisco Tenants Union is open on the weekends. But if you see me there, it’s very, very likely I’m going to tell you to pay your rent.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
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Pigeon Poop Problems

Pigeon Poop Problems

Pigeon Poop Problems

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I’d like to open my windows and get some fresh air in my apartment. The problem is that the windows and building are filthy grimy and covered with pigeon poop on the outside. The ledge and the side of the building are too. If I open the window the soot all blows into our apartment and I don’t even want to know what diseases could come from the poop. Are landlords required to wash the facade of a building? What about windows? I can still see out of them, but just barely. And if a landlord is required to do this, how can I get mine to do it? Our landlord does the bare minimum to maintain our building.

My friend, Emma, is two and a half years old. She’s a big girl now and doesn’t need a diaper. But three or four months ago she could fill a diaper as well as any 6’5″ sailor who ate all the beans in the galley. I’m talking arm pits to knees! Where does it all come from? It’s as if small children are packed with adult-sized digestive systems. Same with pigeons; they generate a remarkable volume of poop given their size. Maybe it’s because they will eat anything, including the bodies of their fallen comrades.

Everyone who lives in a city has a pigeon story. I used to drive an MG convertible. I remember waiting at a stop light on Division Street. I happened to look up and from the steel girder above I noticed a pigeon’s ass maneuvering to drop a bomb. I couldn’t go anywhere! I ended up with what seemed to be a bucket load of shit running down the back of my shirt. Needless to say, I don’t believe any of wives’ tales about pigeon poop bringing good luck.

In fact pigeon poop is dangerous. There are several diseases associated with p-scat. Pigeons are the subjects of eradication programs throughout the world’s large cities.

In San Francisco, we have laws prohibiting the feeding of pigeons. The San Francisco Department of Public Health has a program devoted to dealing with pigeons and their excrement. If you have already complained to the landlord about the problem in writing and he has done nothing, call them.

I am not aware of any specific legal requirement for landlords to wash windows or facades of their buildings. But I’m willing to bet that there are other issues with the building and your apartment, given the lack of maintenance. Take a look around and check to see if there is peeling paint; windows that won’t open (sealed shut with shit?); cracks in the walls; leaks; other safety hazards, etc. If you believe there are violations, inform the landlord in writing. Again, if he doesn’t respond, call a Housing Inspector with the Department of Building Inspection, make a complaint and arrange for an inspection.

If the landlord tells you there is nothing he can do, maybe he needs a diaper.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
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Are Broken Elevators Against The Law?

Are Broken Elevators Against The Law?

Are Broken Elevators Against The Law?

The elevator at my building has been out of order for more than a month, and we have no indication that repairs will take place anytime soon. This situation has made life miserable for people on the upper floors, who must lug laundry and groceries up to six flights. And I have to believe that older people living in the building are, for the most part, stuck in their apartments.

Surely the landlord is violating safety laws by failing to make the necessary repairs!?

Evidently the folks at The San Francisco Appeal have been receiving quite a few questions about elevators since they began their coverage of some of the ongoing CitiApartments atrocities in Tales of the Citi. Last July they asked Who’s Responsible For Elevator Inspection? and in August reported about a CitiApartments building in Six Floors With No Elevator.

In her article about the Lembis and CitiApartments, “War of Values” in this month’s San Francisco Magazine, Danelle Morton quotes an email sent to Supervisor Aaron Peskin, “Our situation is dire at 808 Leavenworth, with many senior and disabled renters on the upper floors…. CitiApartments has had the elevators shut down for three days and will have the water off tomorrow. I’m fearful many senior and disabled renters will die without food, medication, and water. Many tenants are afraid to complain for fear of reprisals. I’m afraid people will die if we don’t get some intervention. Please tell us how to proceed.”

Of course the landlord is violating safety laws by failing to repair the elevator!

Section 713 of the San Francisco Housing Code states: “In all R-1 and R-2 Occupancies, with building heights exceeding 50 feet, which are required to have an operable elevator per the Fire Code, said buildings shall have at least one operating elevator for the residential occupants’ use. Housing Code §1002(b) declares that a building is substandard if lacks elevator service as required by section 713.

So, as I have outlined for other habitability conditions in other columns, if you live in a building that is required to have an elevator, the elevator is broken and the landlord fails to repair the elevator call a San Francisco Housing Inspector to file a complaint and schedule an inspection.

Given the severity of these complaints, I also suggest that you call the San Francisco City Attorney after the inspector issues a notice of violation.

With evidence of your complaints, you can either sue the landlord or you can file a petition at the Rent Board to reduce your rent due to a decrease in services.

I get very angry when I hear about vulnerable people trapped in the upper floors of a building because the landlord will not repair the elevator. This is a quintessential public nuisance and those charged with the duty of public safety should react swiftly and harshly.

It remains a mystery to me that reckless endangerment on this level isn’t criminally prosecuted.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
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Ant Infestation

Ant Infestation

Ant Infestation

This is probably something a lot of people are going through with the cold weather: ant infestation. I rent a half-submerged basement in-law, and the landlord lives in the upstairs part of the house. I’ve lived here over four years and know the LL well. I also know the ants well, and have been vigilant this year. I have watched a giant swarm in the back yard walk over our Grants for Ants stakes for weeks, while spraying Orange Guard all around the base of the house and windows.

Then, at the beginning of the cold snap, the ants were gone. My stomach sank. I knew they were in the house. A few days later they made their ingress at the base of our food pantry, and there were suddenly hundreds of ants swarming on those food shelves, and over to more food shelves on the other side of the house. Luckily we double ziplock and tupperware most of our food, but it was a sign of doom as far as I’m concerned. I took pictures, cleaned, and left the LL a voice message. He told me to spray raid and that an exterminator is very expensive. Now they are in my bedroom and in the bathroom, going after crumbs from lunches long ago and morsels of catfood. I’m still cleaning and photographing, but nothing short of an exterminator is going to make them go away at this point. What are my rights???

I read a little factoid the other day that stated the combined weight of all the ants in the world is approximately the same or greater than the combined weight of all human beings. Ants are the perfect Stalinists. As we all know, ants are omnivorous, industrious, well-organized little creatures that could devour the whole world if they were as large as say, golden retrievers. They are also smart enough to go inside when it gets cold.

When I read your question, I was not convinced that an ant incursion rose to the level of a housing violation because ants do not carry disease, nor do they make it a habit to bite people unless they are molested. We’re just too big for them to eat. I asked a San Francisco housing inspector if it was their policy to write a violation on a unit with an ant infestation. He confirmed my suspicion and told me that they do not. In fact, he reminded me that pests in general are not covered in the Housing Code.

He pointed out that when ants do emerge as a complaint, housing inspectors can refer the complaint to the Environmental Health Program of the SF Department of Public Health, which in turn, assigns a Health investigator or inspector to perform an inspection. When you click on the site, notice that ants are not mentioned in the list of pests. So my general advice to tenants with ants is that you can make a complaint, but I’m not so sure that much can be done to make the landlord exterminate them.

You, however, have a bigger problem! My guess is that you are living in an illegal unit. If you share your electricity with the landlord or your utilities are included in the rent it is very likely that the unit does not have a Certificate of Occupancy. Generally it is not a good idea to call housing inspectors because they could notice, for example, no secondary means of egress, and violate the whole unit. The landlord, to abate the violation, would have to give you a 60-Day Notice to Vacate, pay you half of the
href=”http://www.sfrb.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=1928 “>statutory relocation fees,
pay you the other half when you vacate, and remove the kitchen from the unit.

You need to discuss this with a qualified tenant counselor before you begin to make complaints about your landlord. Go to the San Francisco Tenants Union or the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco.

I hope I’m not sounding too flip, but in the meantime, try Raid. I use it very effectively in a building that houses at least a billion ants. I just spray at the point of entry. Granted, my unit is not below ground level, but Raid works for me.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
(415) 552-9060