Supervisor Danny Sauter announced drafting legislation in late July that would mandate elevator repairs within 24 hours, and require landlords to pay for the relocation of seniors, disabled tenants, and families with young children when repairs take longer.
I know that is well meaning, but just in this same article it mentions there is a shortage of repair technicians. A 24 hour deadline won't magically get the job done faster if you can't get someone on site that fast.
Say the property owner is notified and schedules a repair within 3 hours, but a part is backordered for 3 weeks. Rough math of (lost rent)+(alternative housing costs) = (liability / 12 months) as a rent increase for tenants. Nobody likes that.
A 24 hour deadline won't magically get the job done faster if you can't get someone on site that fast.
So, I agree, but if the lag has been ongoing---I don't know if it has---it does create incentive to being more repairmen into the area. It'll drive up rates for them.
as a rent increase for tenants. Nobody likes that.
No dispute, but...I mean, that higher rent to have a short repair window might just be part of the cost of living in a tall building. Like, if an elevator is out on a three story building, whatever. It's a luxury. It'd annoy me, but I'm not going to care that much if it's out for a while. But if it's out on a fifteen floor building, then it's a pretty significant walk up and down the stairs. Like, before the elevator, residential buildings only went up to four or five stories usually, because people weren't willing to climb higher on stairs. It's why a lot of European cities are about that high today.
Absolutely. Not disputing that at all. But repairs can also take time.
I have a broken window right now. It cracked from heat stress. Nobody's fault. It used to be easy to replace same day. But building code requires double pane and for good reasons. But, the new window was measured, will be built to spec, shipped, and installed over the next week. Things sometimes take time.
There are remedies for tenants incurring habitability issues. It sounds like some think elevator access should be cause. It will be interesting to follow the direction this goes as accessibility outside the rental unit tends to lean more towards ADA rules.
5 Comments
Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com · 5 pts · 5d
I know that is well meaning, but just in this same article it mentions there is a shortage of repair technicians. A 24 hour deadline won't magically get the job done faster if you can't get someone on site that fast.
Say the property owner is notified and schedules a repair within 3 hours, but a part is backordered for 3 weeks. Rough math of (lost rent)+(alternative housing costs) = (liability / 12 months) as a rent increase for tenants. Nobody likes that.
tal@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 5d
So, I agree, but if the lag has been ongoing---I don't know if it has---it does create incentive to being more repairmen into the area. It'll drive up rates for them.
No dispute, but...I mean, that higher rent to have a short repair window might just be part of the cost of living in a tall building. Like, if an elevator is out on a three story building, whatever. It's a luxury. It'd annoy me, but I'm not going to care that much if it's out for a while. But if it's out on a fifteen floor building, then it's a pretty significant walk up and down the stairs. Like, before the elevator, residential buildings only went up to four or five stories usually, because people weren't willing to climb higher on stairs. It's why a lot of European cities are about that high today.
stoly@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 5d
The people still have rights.
Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com · 2 pts · 5d
Absolutely. Not disputing that at all. But repairs can also take time.
I have a broken window right now. It cracked from heat stress. Nobody's fault. It used to be easy to replace same day. But building code requires double pane and for good reasons. But, the new window was measured, will be built to spec, shipped, and installed over the next week. Things sometimes take time.
There are remedies for tenants incurring habitability issues. It sounds like some think elevator access should be cause. It will be interesting to follow the direction this goes as accessibility outside the rental unit tends to lean more towards ADA rules.
Jax@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 5d
The rights to what? Repair technicians that don't exist?