So parents - if you found out that your twentysomething’s fourth floor walkup apartment did not appear to have a working smoke detector, what would you do? Recently-graduated child has just moved out. His place and neighborhood are slightly sketchy, but roommates seem good and the location is very close to work and public transportation. But I was horrified to see that the smoke detector is nonexistant! There is an attachment for one on the ceiling with wires sticking out. Who knows even if the landlord knows. A current or former tenant may have delibrately disabled/removed it. I do plan to buy some battery operated ones, but would you report it? Convince child to let the landlord know? What if next time someone cooks badly, they tear it out again? Argh.
I would encourage your child to let the landlord know. And good for you for noticing its absence and buying some detectors for the apartment.
As a firefighters daughter, definitely notify the landlord. And I would buy a battery operated one from my kids room.
Landlord should be informed.
It should also not be expensive for him to buy additional smoke and CO detectors.
As a firefighter’s wife, I implore you to get it replaced immediately- preferably photoelectric - and please ALSO ensure that they have a working CO detector.
Let the landlord know, but it isn’t worth the potential risk to wait around for the landlord to replace.
I strongly agree with everyone else: get your kid to let the landlord know, or even do it yourself–my kid would likely poohpooh my concerns–and buy and INSTALL battery operated detectors. I would not leave it to 20-somethings to do it.
We had what I considered to be a fairly close scrape with a potential upholstery fire at S’s apt over Thanksgiving, due to contact with a hot lightbulb. I just would not take the chance. (And his place HAS detectors.)
I’d notify landlord and offer to install it if landlord would reimburse for the cost.
People who rent to college students/recent grads in cities are frequently slumlords. They own multiple buildings and don’t maintain them well. There have been numerous articles in the Boston Globe about this all-too-common phenomenon, and people have died as a result of these scumbags’ negligence. Tell your children to report lack of smoke detectors (and in MA and probably other states as well, CO detectors, because it’s the law that all dwellings have them) to the landlord, but also to the housing board.
And in the meantime, definitely buy some smoke and CO detectors. Don’t wait for some potentially unethical landlord to respond to your notification. Just send him or her the bill and deduct it from your rent if you don’t hear back in a timely manner. I have zero patience for this type of thing.
Have him call the landlord. We are constantly replacing detectors remnants rip down but would not know they were down unless we were told or the apartment was vacant and transitioning to a new tenant or it was discovered during a routine city building inspection. The landlord might even let him install if it is hardwired and he is handy.
Yes, @Massmomm it is beantown! Near NEU, Longwood, etc. But maybe property management co. doesn’t even know about the detector (also CO detectors are not functional, so makes me wonder when is the last time landlords even bothered to check). I will get a combo CO/smoke detector, in a multipack for them.
I am actually concerned that the missing smoke detector may indicate something beyond the former -any former tenant’s- behavior after too many smoky meals have set it off.
What if the missing detector is indicative of a failure or neglect of the building manager/owner to place smoke and CO2 detectors in the the public areas, or a failure to regularly ensure they are working?
Looking for signs of missing detectors/aged detectors is one thing I would want my young adult child to do, especially if the next call after that to the landlord is going to be to the housing board/inspector’s office.
I’ve been reading reviews of smoke detectors and what @momofthreeboys says seems to be common among landlords – tough to keep up with tenants disabling the detectors. But I think the units owned by individuals are probably better looked after than those that management companies run.
When that happened to D we went to Home Depot and bought a ton. H made sure they were up before we left.
Looking at it from the other side, maybe the landlord had a cheapy one in the apt and the previous renter purchased a higher end smoke/co detector like the nest protect (very easy to install) and took it with them when they left. Just a thought.
The op’s post indicates the missing unit had been hardwired and installed in the ceiling… The previous tenant may have added one he purchased himself- and then took it with him, but it is the ceiling one that is missing.
funny, post 7’s first comment is that slumlord chooses not to provide working detector. My first inclination was that a previous tenant took it out. Cooking and smoking can set them off and tenants frequently take out the battery or rip off the unit.
I would like Massmom to know that I can’t count how many times I have inspected one of my units after a tenant left and found detectors missing or batteries removed. If a fire had occurred, it would have appeared that I had not provided working detectors. Then I might have unfairly been called a slumlord or negligent scumbag, just because people jumped the gun with conclusions that did not know the whole story. Think about it: if the wiring is there, but the unit itself is missing it was probably an unethical tenant that removed it. People may have died as a result of previous scumbag tenants, to re-phrase her words.
In any case the 20 something college grad is no child.
In my state laws dictate working smoke detectors must be near all bedrooms, and battery ones are acceptable. CO detectors are optional. Also in my state, a tenant is required to report such defects in writing to the landlord. Let’s take it easy before we call the housing board or the Supreme Court. Let’s start by a cheap fix ourself or a quick notice to the LL.
As a practical matter, tell the young adult to handle it. Buy a smoke detector for about $7, tack it to the wall with a small nail, and consider it done.
Or to paraphrase post 10, what if the missing smoke detector is indicative of other neglect or deliberate damage caused by the previous tenant?
If the tenant just moved in, the landlord is obligated to inspect the apartment after the previous moves out and before the new tenant moves in and have certain things in place, and operable.
Even where the tenant can submit a list of things in need of repair, or a list of items where he is noting the condition of the apartment upon move-in so that tenant and landlord are on the same page, the smoke detector must be in place.
Prior neglect by the previous tenant does not absolve the landlord from providing a safe, habitable, up-to-code unit.
In my state, the LL is not obligated to do an inspection either before or after a tenant leaves, although as a matter of business it is best to do so. Not all states require the LL to provide a list of defects, some states expect the tenant to list items at the time of his move-in- to notify the LL of defects, and to protect himself from false LL claims when he moves out. Sometimes brand new cars have defects, but the manufacturer is supposed to correct them. Although yes, items the LL is responsible for should be operable. That is why it is important for tenant to notify LL of any items that are not. Any inspection can accidentally overlook an item.
If a smoke detector is missing, yes, it should be promptly reported to LL by the tenant.
My previous post largely responded to 2 items.
- How detectors often end up missing, and
- That people often quickly judge LL for damages/defects/accidents often caused by tenants.
Lack of smoke detectors and proper egress killed a friend’s daughter. If the landlord does not respond, put them in yourself.
There was a horrible fire in a Portland apartment house about two years ago. Six young people were killed. The deaths were blamed on a lack of smoke detectors and escape routes. The landlord was sentenced to 90 days in jail, but he is asking for a new trial.