Long story short: i have a lot of noise on my phone line and DSL keeps losing sync/disconnecting. The phone company (SBC) wants to send someone out to see if the problem is a problem with their network (between the building and the street line) or if the problem is internal, with the wiring in the building. If it’s a problem on their end, no charge. If it’s a problem within the building, automatic $70 charge for the visit (not for even diagnosing or fixing the internal problem - just for the visit).
Landlord refuses to consent to covering the charge if the problem turns out to be in our building, but Landlord also refuses to fix the problem, claiming “it’s between you and the phone company.” I argue that since it’s the landlord’s building, the problem is the landlord’s, and the property management company should either send their own guy out to diagnose/fix the problem, or consent to the visit from the phone company.
I’m stuck in the middle and don’t feel that it’s my responsibility to put up cash either way. What can I do? Anyone had a similar situation? It seems like the phone company is operating on the assumption that all of their customers are home owners, which is hardly the case.
I’d suggest talking to the Chicago department of housing. All of this is highly dependant on local law. You could invite the phone company out and just deduct the charge from your rent, but then you’re risking a fight with your landlord. It would be nice to know the law was on your side.
Is there anybody else in the building you could ask about their phone connection? If everybody’s got the same problem, get them all to sign off on the request to management to get it looked into. That’s part of what your rent is supposed to be paying for…
I am not a lawyer, and I am not in your state, but when I checked, in New York the fixtures and appliances in the apartment when you signed the rental agreement must be maintained. They are understood to be part of the value of the apartment that you had in mind when you agreed on the rental rate, and if they are not maintained the landlord is in breech of the rental agreement.
I looked this up when our landlord was hemming and hawing about fixing our washing machine. “Oh, the laundry machines aren’t part of the apartment, actually . . . some previous tenants just left those there.” :dubious: Lucky for us they buckled and fixed the damn thing before I had to start waving statutes around.
Think of two guys pointing guns at each other at close range.
You can’t fire 'cause if you do the other guy will too and you’ll be killed.
You can’t lower your gun cause if you do the other guy will fire because now he knows he won’t be shot. So the two of you just stand there. Forever.
Well maybe not forever, but chances are it ain’t gonna end well.
I always use it to mean more than two; three or four guys, each guy pointing his gun at the next so that everyone’s caught. Like this. In this case, me, landlord, phone company.
Has your landlord made any effort to troubleshoot his side of the line, like testing as close to the demarc as possible? If he refused to cover any costs the telephone company charges to check the line, then it’s only reasonable that he take steps to correct the problem himself. If he tests at the demarc and it has noise there, too, then he should be confident that the $70 will never be charged. If there isn’t a problem at the demarc then he needs to fix the building wiring.
IANAL, but the phrase that comes to mind is “warrantee of habitability”, which is the minimum level that a landlord must provide a tenant. I suspect that this does not cover DSL service. If phone service were involved, you might have a point, but I seriously doubt that any locality requires landlords to provide broadband service.
nesta’s point about the demarc aka MPOE is a good one; see the wiki reference.
The phone company owns and maintains their wiring to the demarc (point of demarcation), which is separation-and-test point. (Wiki has further references for 66-blocks, etc, at the end of the article.) The phone company normally has access to this spot.
They can come out and test from there back towards their central office; if they see the problem from there, it’s up to them and they will narrow it down and fix it. (Possible hassle: if the problem is intermittent it may decide to behave while they are looking at it, which is grief for everyone. See footnote*)
If it tests clean to the C.O., it’s probably in-house; there could be a bad connection or a source of interference, or your DSL equipment may be failing.
You also likely have access to the demarc, but do you have access to test equipment? Do you have the ability to query your DSL or PC interface, looking at aggregating Bit Errors or Loss of Sync?
*Don’t exaggerate your intermittents. If it drops sync every five minutes, don’t tell them it’s every minute, tell them it’s every 20 minutes. They push their guys to bang out the troubles, and there’s motivation to put the test equipt on at the demarc, check for a minimum time, write Test OK, pack up and leave.
What ethelbert said. Assuming the POTS voice component works (with some noise) the LL doesn’t really need to care about noise free phone lines and DSL compatibility issue. It’s essentially your responsibility. If the phone audio component were inaudible that might be a different kettle of fish.
Just have the work done. It will likely be on the Phone companies “side”. If it isn’t, then have the bill put in your landlords name if possible. If not, then when you get it, just send a copy to your landlord. You could even deduct it from your rent (in some juristictions). If he won’t pay it, try various agencies that will moderate the dispute for you. Or, wait until you move, and sue him for it.
Assuming the telephone voice line works, what possible realworld legal basis would you have to sue the LL for not providing a line of sufficient quality for broadband data transmission?
