<html>
<body>
Me again, to try to be briefer: We are obligated under the contract
until July 15, 2011. This means we are obligated to allow Dan Silva
to keep laundry machines installed here and for him to collect 2/3 of the
profits. This doesn't mean we are obligated to keep these
<i>particular </i>machines -- he is obligated by contract to provide us
with <i>working</i> machines. I don't see any need for us to hold
up our end of the bargain and not to ask him to hold up his.<br><br>
Candy<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
At 12:17 AM 6/23/2010, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Actually, I believe the laundry
contract goes until July, 2011, so it is another year. And about
breaking the contract early -- I had a couple of attorneys tell me early
on that we could likely break it, because it was actually a contract that
Dan Silva, as Broadway Management (owner of the machines) made with
<i>himself</i>, Dan Silva as Linden Ave. Associates, which was the name
of the entity that officially owned the building prior to it being
condo-ized. The contract says that Linden Ave. Associates and
<i>successors</i> (i.e, Linden Gate Condo) are responsible for that
contract until July, 2011. I was told by one attorney that it is
illegal to bind successors on a service contract, which that attorney
thought the laundry contract would be considered, and also I was told
that "self-dealing" is illegal, especially if it is not in the
best interest of one of the two parties -- the attorney who told me that
was of the opinion that signing a 10 year contract was not in the best
interest of Linden Ave. Associates. HOWEVER -- our current
attorney, who is one of the top condo attorneys in Massachusetts, told
met that the 10-year contract for laundry machines is standard, and also
told me that these contracts are very hard to break. I guess the
bad outcome would be that he sues us for breach of contract, and that we
might then need to pay him for the remainder of the contract, meaning all
the income he would potentially have generated from the machines -- plus
court and attorney fees. So we had decided it wasn't worth the risk
of that, as I recall. We talked about trying to have a conversation
with him and seeing if we could work out a compromise amicably, but my
sense from Dick William's initial conversation with him, in which he was
reportedly furious about our breaking the contract at all, was that he
wouldn't likely compromise.<br><br>
If he doesn't keep up the machines, then I would guess <i>he</i> is
breaching the contract, which I assume says that they are kept in good
working order (I am sure I have a copy of it somewhere: I assume the
current trustees do too; I know Paradigm does). However, if we
don't inform him of the machines not working, then we can't accuse him of
breaching the contract by not fixing them. (If he breaches the
contract, then we could theoretically get out of it.) I imagine
that this would be his motivation for fixing them in a timely
manner. Otherwise -- our current attorney had advised us to send
the letter breaking the contract as early as possible, because you have
to put your intention to break it in writing 180 days (6 MONTHS!) before
it ends, or it rolls over automatically for ANOTHER TEN YEARS!!
Seriously. So she said that we were better off making sure he got
the letter way ahead of time. Which I think made sense -- however,
I wonder what that does to his motivation for maintaining the
machines?<br><br>
All this being said (I'm sure way more information than you wanted!) -- I
agree with Chris. The deal is that he gets to keep the machines
here AND collects 2/3 of the income from them, and that in return, he
keeps them in good working order. I don't see why we would want to
limp along with machines that don't work well; I don't believe there is
anything in the contract that would require us to do so. In fact, I
would look at the wording of the contract. It might be that he
needs to replace the machines if they are not working
adequately.<br><br>
My way-more-than-2-cents!<br><br>
Candy<br><br>
At 11:47 PM 6/22/2010, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">I sympathize with Chris and
others who get frustrated by the wall machine, but the fact is, it's
still working. And Charlie's reboot procedure does work, when the machine
gets stuck at the end of a cycle (after it's been opened before the
"wait" sign flashes off).<br><br>
Trouble is, some of us have gotten used to these idiosyncracies, but new
tenants won't know, and their landlords shouldn't have to give them a
complicated explanation. So I suggest we put up a brief sign above
the machine explaining the way it works. It will only be for another six
months or so, at most. <br><br>
Indeed, I wonder if we shouldn't tell Sylva that we are going to replace
his machines in the last quarter of this year, rather than waiting until
2011. What could he really do about it? Anyway, if we wrote the letter to
him saying we intend to do so, it would be interesting to see how he
responds! <br><br>
<i>mmm<br><br>
</i>Martin M. Marks<br>
Senior Lecturer<br>
MIT, Music and Theater Arts Section, 10-268<br>
77 Massachusetts Ave.<br>
Cambridge MA, 02139<br><br>
Office phone: 617-253-4967<br>
Mobile phone: 617-851-8955<br>
Email: <a href="mailto:mmmarks@mit.edu"><i>mmmarks@mit.edu</a><br>
</i><br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
On Jun 22, 2010, at 11:28 PM, Charlie Denison wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Sure I'll make sure he looks at
this machine as well. If it's any consolation, when I've called his
company with washing machine problems before (I called the number posted
on the sign in the laundry room), they have always been quick to respond.
I personally have never had issues with the machine by the wall, but
clearly there is a problem with it. The trustees will make sure the
machines are in working order until our contract is done in
2011.<br><br>
Charlie<br><br>
Chris De Angelis wrote: <br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Charlie, thanks for the
experiment and feedback. But I have to ask: are we just going to
live with the unreliability of this machine until we can replace
it?<br><br>
I am going to be renting my unit soon, and I would really prefer that Mr.
Silva take the time and spend what he needs to fix both machines, since
he has stuck us with them until 2011, rather than have to explain to my
renter "to get that machine near the wall working, stand on your
head, do the hokie pokey five times, and insert your money, and it may
then start". He is getting the majority of the money we spend
on our laundry, and I feel he has given us a very unsatisfactory level of
maintenance over the years after sticking the condominium association
with this contract going back six or seven years that says we have to use
his machines until 2011.<br><br>
Giving him the benefit of the doubt, if we make him understand that this
machine sometimes says "WAIT" with no explanation of what's
wrong or how to mend it, maybe he'll do what's necessary to fix it.
Could we please do that and avoid the potential for putting an extra
couple of bucks in his pocket because his machines aren't
reliable?<br><br>
Respectfully,<br>
Chris<br><br>
----- Original Message -----<br>
From: "Charlie Denison"
<a href="mailto:cdenison@comcast.net"><cdenison@comcast.net></a><br>
To: <a href="mailto:lindengardens@mit.edu">lindengardens@mit.edu</a><br>
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 9:16:56 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern<br>
Subject: Re: [Lindengardens] Washing Machine Next to Door Will Be Fixed
Next Week<br><br>
OK it seems to be okay now. I put the lid down, but that didn't do
anything. Then while he lid was still down, I unplugged the machine and
plugged it back in. The computer made some noises for about 10 seconds,
then said THANK YOU. It's ready for a new load now and says INSERT
$2.00.<br><br>
Charlie<br><br>
Chris De Angelis wrote:
<dl>
<dd>So tonight, the washing machine next to the wall is just reading
"WAIT" on the display and is not doing anything. I came
down to the laundry room and found it like that; it's empty and the lid
is open, but I'm not willing to risk having it eat another $2.<br>
<dd>Can we get that machine looked at tomorrow also? I'm afraid
while some of the time it is true that it just takes a while to start, we
are having bad luck with it in that it sometimes eats our credit, tells
us to wait, and then never starts.<br>
<dd>Thanks -
<dd>Chris<br>
<dd>----- Original Message -----
<dd>From: "Aaron Federman"
<a href="mailto:aafedz@yahoo.com"><aafedz@yahoo.com></a>
<dd>To:
<a href="mailto:lindencondos@yahoogroups.com">
lindencondos@yahoogroups.com</a>
<dd>Cc: <a href="mailto:lindengardens@mit.edu">lindengardens@mit.edu</a>
<dd>Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2010 12:57:14 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada
Eastern
<dd>Subject: [Lindengardens] Washing Machine Next to Door Will Be Fixed
Next Week<br>
<dd>Dan Silva stopped by the building to look at the laundry machine. The
washing machine closest to the door is filling and draining correctly,
but the water is not "agitating" properly. He will send a
repair person on Wednesday to fix the washing machine closest to the
door. I told him to wait until Wednesday since we have plumbing work
being done on Tuesday in our boiler room that will require us to shut off
the water pressure. The washing machine closest to the wall still works
correctly. It just takes several minutes to start. Dan may try to replace
the card reader in that machine, but he doesn't know if that will make it
start any faster. Aaron
<dd>_______________________________________________ Lindengardens mailing
list <a href="mailto:Lindengardens@mit.edu">Lindengardens@mit.edu</a>
<a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens" eudora="autourl">
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens</a> <br>
<br>
<br><br>
<pre>
<dd>_______________________________________________
<dd>Lindengardens mailing list
<dd><a href="mailto:Lindengardens@mit.edu">Lindengardens@mit.edu</a>
<dd>
<a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens" eudora="autourl">
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens</a>
<dd> </pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font><br>
<br><br>
<pre>
<dd>No virus found in this incoming message.
<dd>Checked by AVG - <a href="http://www.avg.com/">www.avg.com</a>
<dd>Version: 9.0.829 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2954 - Release Date:
<dd>06/21/10 14:36:00
<dd> </pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font>
</dl><br>
_______________________________________________ Lindengardens mailing
list <a href="mailto:Lindengardens@mit.edu">Lindengardens@mit.edu</a>
<a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens" eudora="autourl">
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens</a> <br><br>
<br><br>
<pre>
_______________________________________________
Lindengardens mailing list
<a href="mailto:Lindengardens@mit.edu">Lindengardens@mit.edu</a>
<a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens" eudora="autourl">
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens</a>
</pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font><br><br>
<br>
<pre>
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - <a href="http://www.avg.com/">www.avg.com</a>
Version: 9.0.829 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2956 - Release Date: 06/22/10
14:36:00
</pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font></blockquote>
_______________________________________________<br>
Lindengardens mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Lindengardens@mit.edu">Lindengardens@mit.edu</a><br>
<a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens" eudora="autourl">
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens</a></blockquote><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Lindengardens mailing list<br>
Lindengardens@mit.edu<br>
<a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens" eudora="autourl">
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens</a></blockquote>
_______________________________________________<br>
Lindengardens mailing list<br>
Lindengardens@mit.edu<br>
<a href="http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens" eudora="autourl">
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens</a></blockquote>
</body>
</html>