23B-017 •
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SEP 2013
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�,plumb..e^ „�,„ September 5, 2013
petu Normamamn. ..
At the end of August, I, along with my husband, moved from the apartment that we had been
renting. The apartment is located at 20 Hatfield St. Northampton. There were numerous issues
with the property that the landlord, Richard Patenaude, did not and would not address. Some
of these issues are building code violations,some, I believe, fall under health code violations. I
would like to note that the landlord is related to my husband,they are cousins,so they both
share the same last name.
The cement steps leading onto the porch have eroded so badly that they are nearly split in half.
A few years ago, my husband installed a rain gutter and down spout and repaired the stairs.
Not long after, the contractor who was hired to do the siding and the roof tore the gutter
system down. That is when they became damaged again. Also,there is no railing on these
stairs or on the stairs to the kitchen door. The wooden back steps have also dry rotted and
"pop"off some times.
for the past two summers we had a problem with skunk infestation, both under the porch and
under the metal shed that was next to the brick patio. My husband and I did what we could to
drive the skunks out. The landlord commented a couple of times that he had thought about
calling an exterminator. He did nothing. I brought this to his attention in a written letter
regarding the conditions at the apartment, within days of our moving out, they tore down the
shed.
There is dried up raw sewage in the basement near the sewer pipe. This was left there when
the sewer pipe leading from the house to the city main collapsed. The plumber he called
snaked it out and gave him an estimate for repairing the collapsed pipe. Nothing was done and
when the sewer backs up, it backs up into the kitchen sink,the same sink where vegetables and
dishes are cleaned.
The kitchen sink, I believe, does not meet the building code. It is a single bowl, shallow sink,
Give you would fnd in a janitor's closet back in the 1950's. This is also the sink that the washing
machine drains into. The power outlet for the washing machine is not a GFCI outlet. None of
the outlets in the apartment are grounded; they are only two prong outlets. Some of those
outlets burnt and melted the adapters that we tried to use. The wiring in the walls, throughout
the house, is the old knob and tube type of wiring. In order to use the microwave,you must
make sure all other appliances are off, even then, you can't run the microwave for more than
two or three minutes or it will overload the circuit and kick it off.
There are no counters, or anything else that would constitute a clean food preparation surface,
in the kitchen.
None of the plumbing has shut offs, such as the sinks and the toilette. For example, if the
toilette is overflowing,the only way to shut the water off is to go to the basement and shut off
the main.
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Neither the front door nor back doors have dead bolt locks. The front door is made of wood
and four single pane pieces of glass and locks with a skeleton key.
Of minor concern, there is no exhaust fan in the bathroom.
When the landlord stopped scheduling it, we paid for the annual maintenance for our furnace.
The landlord went several years without having his furnace serviced. When we were having
problems with finding a large amount of a heavy black powdery substance, we notified the
landlord. It turned out that his chimney was full. The soot and carbon monoxide from his
chimney were being blown back into the common basement. Because the furnaces have no
clean air intake, when the blower motor turned on for our furnace, it sucked up the soot and
gas and blew it into our apartment. The landlord did nothing about it. For our own safety, my
husband installed a clean out door in the landlord's chimney and cleaned it out himself. He
then cleaned out the chimney for our furnace. We also installed a carbon monoxide detector in
our apartment, as there never was one. We also replaced the outdated smoked detectors.
Because it was only my husband and I living in the apartment, some of these issues could be
dealt with. Now that we have moved, my concern is for the safety of a younger couple moving
in to these conditions, especially if they have children.
Sincerely,
Jane T. Patenaude
19 Raymond Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
413-538-4491
14-eCa