LYNN — Three years ago, the city adopted an ordinance requiring all long-term rental housing units in Lynn to be registered and inspected every five years. Since then, inspectors have come across code violations ranging in severity from lack of hot water and missing smoke detectors to illegal apartment setups.
Since the ordinance came into effect in October, 2020, roughly 72 percent of the estimated 18,000 apartments in the city have been registered and 1,300 have been inspected, Chief of Inspectional Services Michael Donovan said.
So far, city inspectors and reports from third party inspectors have revealed common but relatively minor health and safety code compliance issues consisting of improper plumbing, a lack of window screens, and cross-metering of utilities.
Many of these issues are resolved relatively quickly, Donovan said, some within 24 hours.
“Plumbing under the sink not done by a real plumber — plastic piping where there shouldn’t be plastic, is something that’s come up in the first round quite a bit,” Donovan said. “Peeling paint is a problem when we get into some of the older buildings. If there’s peeling paint, they need to get the apartment painted because you don’t want children eating paint, which could be lead, especially in these older buildings.”
In addition to repairing some of these less severe code violations, Donovan said the ordinance aims to find and remedy more serious safety concerns such as missing smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, or even illegal apartments.
Over the last year, Lynn Fire has urged landlords to adhere to building zoning requirements after noticing a recent influx of illegal apartments in the city. The illegal apartment setups contain fewer than two exits or lack the window size necessary for first responders to climb through in the event of an emergency.
Donovan said during the first wave of inspections, the Inspectional Services Department located and vacated roughly six illegal rental units of this sort. He expects to find more as inspections continue.
In May, firefighters discovered two illegal basement apartments while responding to a fire on Western Avenue. Earlier this year, the fire department discovered another two illegal apartments within a week — one on Spencer Street while responding to reports of a gas leak, and the other on High Rock Street after responding to a fire.
“It seems to be more common because rent prices are so high. People are trying to save money and landlords are trying to make more money and squeeze as much profit out of their buildings as they can — but it could come at a dangerous cost,” District Fire Chief Joseph Zukas said in January.
On Friday, Zukas said the rental registration and inspection ordinance was a tremendous force in tackling hazardous and illegal apartments. In the past, illicit rental setups were only brought to the city’s attention when firefighters discovered them after an emergency call.
With mandatory rental inspections, Zukas said the city can preemptively identify and get a handle on illegal apartments, along with other fire hazards.
“It makes our jobs better, safer,” Zukas said. “If during these inspections, they find any missing smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors and they force the homeowner to remedy it, it makes these apartments safer.”
