Massachusetts: $100 per day fine for expired elevator certificates

[Dynamo2000]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

My brother and sister-in-law have a small elevator in their home which they rarely if ever used.

Recently his aged mother wanted to come and visit and would need the use of the elevator. When they

checked the elevator out they found it was not working and furthermore they noticed that the inspection

certificate had long since expired. Upon calling a few elevator repair companies it was brought to their

attention that Massachusetts enacted a new law or regulation July 1, 2013 which assess a fine of $100 per

day! for elevators with expired inspection certificates. According to one elevator company executive,

prior to the new fine schedule of $100 per day, there was a $500 limit on the fine but that seems to be an

issue of contention presently. He also mentioned there is potentially a class action lawsuit in the making

regarding this fine schedule.

Obviously the first and most pressing issue is dealing with the fine issue. Even assuming the

daily fine is not retroactive to the date of expiration of the certificate, they are currently looking at a

potential fine in the vicinity of $40,000 just from July 1, 2013!

My question is whether or not a consensus developed between the state and home and building

owners with elevators as to how long overdue inspection fines are being handled? Hopefully there is

some quasi-standard fine being assessed in these situations without the necessity of hiring a lawyer.

Alternately, at the other extreme, is the legal situation “every man for himself” in which case each such

building and homeowner has to hire an attorney and fight it out praying that the reasonableness argument

will buy them some relief. Does anyone have any experience in this matter and can guide me as to what

the next course of action should be? Yes, hiring an attorney is always an option albeit an expensive one

and I am hoping that this won’t be a necessity here.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

My brother and sister-in-law have a small elevator in their home which they rarely if ever used.

Recently his aged mother wanted to come and visit and would need the use of the elevator. When they

checked the elevator out they found it was not working and furthermore they noticed that the inspection

certificate had long since expired. Upon calling a few elevator repair companies it was brought to their

attention that Massachusetts enacted a new law or regulation July 1, 2013 which assess a fine of $100 per

day! for elevators with expired inspection certificates. According to one elevator company executive,

prior to the new fine schedule of $100 per day, there was a $500 limit on the fine but that seems to be an

issue of contention presently. He also mentioned there is potentially a class action lawsuit in the making

regarding this fine schedule.

Obviously the first and most pressing issue is dealing with the fine issue. Even assuming the

daily fine is not retroactive to the date of expiration of the certificate, they are currently looking at a

potential fine in the vicinity of $40,000 just from July 1, 2013!

My question is whether or not a consensus developed between the state and home and building

owners with elevators as to how long overdue inspection fines are being handled? Hopefully there is

some quasi-standard fine being assessed in these situations without the necessity of hiring a lawyer.

Alternately, at the other extreme, is the legal situation “every man for himself” in which case each such

building and homeowner has to hire an attorney and fight it out praying that the reasonableness argument

will buy them some relief. Does anyone have any experience in this matter and can guide me as to what

the next course of action should be? Yes, hiring an attorney is always an option albeit an expensive one

and I am hoping that this won’t be a necessity here.

Information on elevator inspections can be found at http://www.mass.gov/eopss/consumer-prot-and-bus-lic/license-type/elevators/elevators-faqs.html

Home elevators only need to be inspected once every 5 years.

The link above provides access to "hardship" forms if the expense of an inspection is too much.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

My brother and sister-in-law have a small elevator in their home which they rarely if ever used.

Recently his aged mother wanted to come and visit and would need the use of the elevator. When they

checked the elevator out they found it was not working and furthermore they noticed that the inspection

certificate had long since expired. Upon calling a few elevator repair companies it was brought to their

attention that Massachusetts enacted a new law or regulation July 1, 2013 which assess a fine of $100 per

day! for elevators with expired inspection certificates. According to one elevator company executive,

prior to the new fine schedule of $100 per day, there was a $500 limit on the fine but that seems to be an

issue of contention presently. He also mentioned there is potentially a class action lawsuit in the making

regarding this fine schedule.

Obviously the first and most pressing issue is dealing with the fine issue. Even assuming the

daily fine is not retroactive to the date of expiration of the certificate, they are currently looking at a

potential fine in the vicinity of $40,000 just from July 1, 2013!

My question is whether or not a consensus developed between the state and home and building

owners with elevators as to how long overdue inspection fines are being handled? Hopefully there is

some quasi-standard fine being assessed in these situations without the necessity of hiring a lawyer.

Alternately, at the other extreme, is the legal situation “every man for himself” in which case each such

building and homeowner has to hire an attorney and fight it out praying that the reasonableness argument

will buy them some relief. Does anyone have any experience in this matter and can guide me as to what

the next course of action should be? Yes, hiring an attorney is always an option albeit an expensive one

and I am hoping that this won’t be a necessity here.

You need to find the actual law and read it yourself. There is at least some small chance that it would not apply to private homes. I am sure that the intent of the fine is to protect the safety of the public.

 

[quincy]

You need to find the actual law and read it yourself. There is at least some small chance that it would not apply to private homes. I am sure that the intent of the fine is to protect the safety of the public.

I provided a link to the law above and elevator inspections apply to private home elevators.

Nowhere in the law is there mention of a $100 a day fine.

 

[LdiJ]

I provided a link to the law above and elevator inspections apply to private home elevators.

Nowhere in the law is there mention of a $100 a day fine.

I googled around some too and cannot find anything that mentions a fine at all, so I think we might just not be finding the information. I am sure that there has to be a fine for public elevators not being inspected.

Just found it:

http://www.mass.gov/eopss/consumer-prot-and-bus-lic/license-type/civil-fines/civil-fine-faqs-elevator.html

It doesn't look good for the OP's brother.

 

[quincy]

I googled around some too and cannot find anything that mentions a fine at all, so I think we might just not be finding the information. I am sure that there has to be a fine for public elevators not being inspected.

Just found it:

http://www.mass.gov/eopss/consumer-prot-and-bus-lic/license-type/civil-fines/civil-fine-faqs-elevator.html

It doesn't look good for the OP's brother.

Thank you for finding that additional link.

But I disagree with you that it is looking bad for Dynamo2000's brother, considering Dynamo2000's brother has not been operating a public elevator. The first offense fine can be either a warning or a $1000 fine. The maximum fine is $5000. The brother is certainly not looking at $40,000 worth of fines as he feared and, again, there is a hardship form for those who cannot afford an inspection.

fines: http://www.mass.gov/eopss/consumer-prot-and-bus-lic/license-type/civil-fines/civil-fine-faqs-elevator.html