[Lindengardens] Washing Machine Next to Door Will Be Fixed Next Week

Wed Jun 23 00:55:46 EDT 2010

Dear Candy,
That was very elucidating--without requiring me to consult my contract--and
compelling. (I'm working on becoming a lawyer). I think you're right in that
the best way--as in, safest to tenants in terms of money--is to consent on a
course of action by hashing over the precise wording of the contract,
including definitions of 'good working order' and so on, find a loophole,
make certain that said problematic machine can perform said problem if a
demonstration if and when needed, and then select a calm-mannered tenant to
send into the storm, so to speak.
I'm just relieved everyone's having problems with the machines--I always
imagine it's my own lack of attentiveness to protocol that messes them up,
then hope it's not my fault they broke permanently. Thanks again for the
update,
yours,
-ona k.

On Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 12:17 AM, Candy Malina <candyjoy at earthlink.net>wrote:

>  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 *himself*, 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 *
> successors* (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.
>
> If he doesn't keep up the machines, then I would guess *he* 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?
>
> 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.
>
> My way-more-than-2-cents!
>
> Candy
>
>
> At 11:47 PM 6/22/2010, you wrote:
>
> 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).
>
> 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.
>
> 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!
>
> *mmm
>
> *Martin M. Marks
> Senior Lecturer
> MIT, Music and Theater Arts Section, 10-268
> 77 Massachusetts Ave.
> Cambridge MA, 02139
>
> Office phone: 617-253-4967
> Mobile phone: 617-851-8955
> Email: *mmmarks at mit.edu* <mmmarks at mit.edu>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Jun 22, 2010, at 11:28 PM, Charlie Denison wrote:
>
> 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.
>
> Charlie
>
> Chris De Angelis wrote:
>
> 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?
>
> 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.
>
> 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?
>
> Respectfully,
> Chris
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Charlie Denison" <cdenison at comcast.net> <cdenison at comcast.net>
> To: lindengardens at mit.edu
> Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 9:16:56 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: [Lindengardens] Washing Machine Next to Door Will Be Fixed
> Next Week
>
> 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.
>
> Charlie
>
> Chris De Angelis wrote:
>  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.
>
> 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.
>
> Thanks -
> Chris
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Aaron Federman" <aafedz at yahoo.com> <aafedz at yahoo.com>
> To: lindencondos at yahoogroups.com
> Cc: lindengardens at mit.edu
> Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2010 12:57:14 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: [Lindengardens] Washing Machine Next to Door Will Be Fixed Next
> Week
>
> 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
> _______________________________________________ Lindengardens mailing list
> Lindengardens at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lindengardens mailing list
> Lindengardens at mit.edu
>
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens
>
>
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 9.0.829 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2954 - Release Date:
> 06/21/10 14:36:00
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________ Lindengardens mailing list
> Lindengardens at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lindengardens mailing listLindengardens at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens
>
>
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 9.0.829 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2956 - Release Date: 06/22/10
> 14:36:00
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lindengardens mailing list
> Lindengardens at mit.edu
>  http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Lindengardens mailing list
> Lindengardens at mit.edu
>  http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Lindengardens mailing list
> Lindengardens at mit.edu
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/lindengardens
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/lindengardens/attachments/20100623/3e60ee78/attachment.htm