Yesterday, we sent the following letter to Mara:
Dear Ms. Feldman-Fox:We haven't heard back yet.
I am writing to you on behalf of unit owner M, in your capacity as Property Manager of Claremont Condominiums, and in answer to your letter of 2/16/12.
I have been in discussion with Jeffrey’s Plumbing and other contractors about the problem, and would appreciate clarification and expansion of certain points.
1) The Condominium Act (Section 12, Insurance) makes it mandatory that the Association insure structural damage through the drywall, plaster and primer.
Why, then, are you asking us to pay for tearing down the wall, replacing the tub and shower valve (along with the waste and overflow which are currently blocked to prevent backflow from washing machines in other units in the '60 East unit line--a matter you failed to correct.) as well as demanding installation of replacement access panels to the radiators in the bathroom and kitchen, when the existing access panels were OKd by the city inspector when the conversion from rental to condo was approved in the late 1990s?
As a matter of law, the city inspector’s approval of the ceiling panels overrides both Jeffrey’s Plumbing's, and your opinions.
2) What's the basis for your theory that implementing these repairs alone will close all access for the rodents currently infesting the building?
While the hole by the drainpipe is one possible point of access, the front lawn still shows signs of multiple rodent burrows. (Those points of access have existed since 2008, when I first e-mailed you about them.)
Fox Management and the Condominium Association have done nothing for '60 N Claremont in the five years since, allowing the pre-existing problem to grow worse!
3) It is clear (after talking to contractors) that the arbitrary 3/17/12 deadline is not achievable without exorbitant rush charges.
We’ve talked to several contractors and none was able to schedule the work within that time frame.
Moreover, since Fox Management and the Claremont Condominium Association are responsible for any rodent infestation due to lack of action on the reported, pre-existing condition dating back to 2008, it’s difficult to see how you could set a deadline for us to do your work for you.
In addition:
a) Jeffrey’s Plumbing, (whose evaluation you’re basing your demands on) obviously, doesn’t consider the matter a high priority.
Despite having been to '60 N Claremont Unit GE three times in the past month to inspect the situation, Jeffrey's Plumbing has not yet presented either an estimate for the work, or proposed a schedule to commence work (if we agree to it)!
b) We’d also like to know why Fox's chosen exterminator (A.N.D. Exterminators) has not been sent by Fox to lay traps at the “entry point” in our unit’s walls to staunch the supposed flow of rats into the building until the repair work is done (A.N.D. previously performed similar tasks in the kitchen of unit '60 2E [in the same line with us], and probably other units as well), indicating that Fox and the Board do not consider the matter, at least in our unit, to be worthy of immediate service.
When renovation work does commence, we want written assurance that Fox and the Board will:
1) Provide exterminators the day the wall is opened to close the hole in the ground around the plumbing, as well as place traps to handle rodents still inside the building who, when they discover their exit is now blocked, will seek other egress, most likely into '60 GE thru the now-opened walls.
2) Provide exterminators twice each subsequent day of the renovation to:
a) At 8:00 AM, clear away any vermin caught overnight and deal with any active vermin when the room is opened up for the workmen to begin their task.
b) At 5:00 PM, set fresh traps when the workmen finish each day’s work, after which the room will be sealed overnight.
NOTE: Since the opening around the drainpipe was a result of poor construction when the condo conversion took place over a decade ago, as well as rodent burrowing which the Condo Association failed to stop after being notified, the responsibility falls to Fox Management and the Board to provide and pay for the exterminator and sealing services.
Renovation work will not be scheduled or commissioned by us until we receive your written agreement to this aspect in order to protect the lives and health of the owner and resident of '60 N Claremont, Unit GE.
The report from Jeffrey’s mentions mold.
Mold can be very dangerous, leading to inflammation of the lungs.
Also, several years of rat feces and rat urine left by rodents after Fox Management and the Board failed to act on reported infiltration, can cause Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Lassa Fever, as well as Leptospirosis.
We believe that conditions in the Unit G bathroom may (if they haven’t already) seriously endanger our health, and we are eager to correct the problem in a reasonable timeframe.
In addition, when the walls are torn down, it will also become clear how much of the wall damage was the result of the water leak from unit '60, 1E (directly above ours) that occurred about a year and a half ago.
Work with us and we'll work with you.
Friday's total for Fox Management Group's still-unpaid bill from July, 2008 (over three years ago!)...$574,992.33 from an original $75!
They've broken the $500,000 level!Now that the 1% per workday cumulative late fee is over $5000, it's really mounting up, at a rate of $25,000+ a week!
It's over 800(EIGHT HUNDRED) late charges, and now the amount (with late fees) is over 2600 times the original bill...
Isn't that just pitiful?
But then, what can you expect from Mara Feldman-Fox,
someone with only a bachelor's degree in accounting
and NO other accreditation, whatsoever?
and NO other accreditation, whatsoever?
She's not even registered as a property manager,
as required by law!
as required by law!
I hope for her sake Mara's better with her library books and DVD rentals!
But I doubt it... ;-)
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Thanks for your input.