Update: Oreo, Dog Thrown Off Building, Was Euthanized
Access-A-Ride Renders Bike Lane Inaccessible
The UWS Gets Its Very Own Apple Store
Emily and Sarah Kunstler, Filmmakers
Video: Close Encounters Above Central Park?
I know that city law has recently required all apartments to have carbon monoxide detectors. My landlord is trying to charge us for the two he has installed in our apartment. I feel like he is trying to pull a fast one on us. Whose responsibility is it to pay for the detectors?
Your landlord is not trying to pull one over on you. Under the new law, which required building owners to install carbon monoxide detectors "within 15 feet of the primary entrance of each bedroom" by November 1st, tenants are responsible for $25 per detector. For combination smoke/carbon monoxide detectors, tenants are responsible for $35, but only if the existing smoke detector in the apartment needs to be replaced.
Gothamist covered this in October and the original post stoked some heated debate. Have you paid your landlord back yet?
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
My management company is doing the same thing. We have a charge of $25 on our rent bill this month. Called them up and he referred us to the new law and the lease agreement. He also said we have the entire year to pay it off...so I'll probably leave it to near the end of the lease..
Since we pay for them, can we take them with us when we leave the apartment? I plan to.
do modern buildings (built in the last 10 years) have a risk for carbon monoxide poisoning? We have central air/heat...i think it's electric. I own my condo, so no one is requiring me to get a detector. But, I will of course if there is a risk.
I live in an older building; when the super installed my CO detector, he said that, given the size and location of my apartment, there probably isn't too much of a risk. But I guess it can't hurt to be prepared. (And at least this thing isn't as hyperactive as the smoke detector I had to replace, which went off whenever I turned the oven on.)
A newer house I went to (built in 1997) had CO Detectors built in each bedroom, the living room and Dining room.
Don't know if this is a new trend or not...
The law applies only to buildings in proximity to a source of carbon monoxide, or which have a fossil fuel burning appliance like a boiler. (This includes most apartment buildings.) If your building has electric heat, it may be exempt, although some electrically-heated buildings have fuel-burning water heaters and will still need detectors. Even if you own your own home, the law still requires a detector, but it would be difficult for the City to inspect to check compliance. Also, even if your building doesn't have a boiler, if you live above a parking garage, your landlord is also required to provide a CO detector. In general, if the device is faulty, the owner must replace it, but the tenant has a responsibility to maintain it. This includes replacing the batteries.
The best is when my friend's building *cough cough* got a batch of detectors that were 1 month away from expiring. And, if I read the law correctly, tenants are responsible for subsequent replacement. However, to be fair, the management company did replace the detector free of charge for my friend when it started chirping ... endlessly ... much like that Friends episode.
hmmm the mgmt compay for where i live has not mentioned this yet and they are usually very on top of things. i'll have to give them a call and see if they're planning to install CO detectors. thanks for the heads up :)
newer buildings ae more prone to co problems b/c they are more airtight and so if there is a co source, it has no opportunity to dissipate like it would in a drafty house with old, ill-fitting, energy- inefficient windows. i'd rather be cold than dead, so i really appreciate my drafty windows!
If you live on a high floor, can you still get Carbon monoxide in your apartment?
Huh. I hadn't thought about not taking the CO detector with us. We bought our own new CO and smoke (not a combo though) dectectors before the law went into effect.