Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs...

[NellieBly]

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

I live in a dinky little duplex. A nice girl with two children lives next door. We've all lived here for years. The owner lives in another state.

My landlady got a letter from Code Enforcement stating she MUST post a sign, where the tenants can see it, with her name, address and phone number posted. We looked it up and the citation stated it must be TWENTY INCHES SQUARE! Apparently this is a state law, not just the muni code.

Loopholes please? Is there a minimum size for the lettering? Does it have to be on the exterior?

How come I don't see these all over town?

Geez, we know the landlady's name and address, we send her a check each month. I'm sure she doesn't want her phone number published, she's not in property management.

 

[FarmerJ]

Many cities require owner information to be posted in a conspicuous place which is why one might see owner information ( name and mailing address and phone number ) posted on a card or in some cities a actual copy of a so called rental license posted , so like say at a multi unit you might find such information near interior mail boxes. Years ago when I rented a apartment that was over a store in a very old neighborhood , ours was posted near the rear exit from second floor to the back porch stairs right by the fuse boxes, Ive seen them posted in common entries of duplexes where there was one shared front door to outside. Ive also seen owner information posted on front porches of multi units but over one door so it does not become weathered and not readable. I doubt there are any exclusions that would take the LL off the hook.

 

[tranquility]

I am firmly convinced that everyone has to do something under the law they do not do. Everyone.

What is your concern? What do you feel is the issue?

 

[NellieBly]

The law states the sign must be twenty inches square. Our house is a duplex with no common areas except for the yard. I don't want a big honking sign on my house. My landlady doesn't want her phone number posted for all the world to see.

 

[NellieBly]

Is there a minimum size for lettering?

 

[Zigner]

The law states the sign must be twenty inches square. Our house is a duplex with no common areas except for the yard. I don't want a big honking sign on my house. My landlady doesn't want her phone number posted for all the world to see.

Can you give us the actual law you are speaking of?

Also, are you sure that the sign must be a square that is 20" on each side? It's possible that the requirement is speaking of 20 square inches. A 5" x 5" sign is 25 square inches...

 

[FarmerJ]

Nel even when I had the Fourplex the rental license copy that I had to have posted was about the size of one third of a regular sheet of paper, and back to the apartment I had in a suburb in the later 70s and the second place I rented it was actually a owners info registration card ( not a license back then) and those were generated by the cities they came from and were about the size of a regular mailing envelope. It really wont have to be giant , what counts is that it have her contact info and mailing address and is posted where it can be easily found (including any other requirements your city has )

 

[quincy]

The law you appear to be thinking of is located in Massachusett's State Sanitary Code, Chapter II, 105 CMR 410.000.

Here is a link to the Secretary of State's highlights of the laws that apply: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cissfsn/sfsnidx.htm

You will want to scroll down to the "Security" section, where it states that the posted notice must be made of durable material and no smaller than 20 square inches. Zigner was correct, in other words, with his feeling that the notice was 20 square inches and not (an unreasonably large) 20 inches square.

 

[Zigner]

The law you appear to be thinking of is located in Massachusett's State Sanitary Code, Chapter II, 105 CMR 410.000.

Here is a link to the Secretary of State's highlights of the laws that apply: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cissfsn/sfsnidx.htm

You will want to scroll down to the "Security" section, where it states that the posted notice must be made of durable material and no smaller than 20 square inches. Zigner was correct, in other words, with his feeling that the notice was 20 square inches and not (an unreasonably large) 20 inches square.

Just for scale, a regular 8.5x11 sheet of paper is 93.5 square inches. The sign required would be smaller than a quarter sheet of paper.

 

[NellieBly]

Can you give us the actual law you are speaking of?

Also, are you sure that the sign must be a square that is 20" on each side? It's possible that the requirement is speaking of 20 square inches. A 5" x 5" sign is 25 square inches...

You have hit the nail on the head! I was thinking it was 20 x 20.

We printed out a little sign and posted it in the top corner of our front window.

 

[NellieBly]

The law you appear to be thinking of is located in Massachusett's State Sanitary Code, Chapter II, 105 CMR 410.000.

Here is a link to the Secretary of State's highlights of the laws that apply: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cissfsn/sfsnidx.htm

You will want to scroll down to the "Security" section, where it states that the posted notice must be made of durable material and no smaller than 20 square inches. Zigner was correct, in other words, with his feeling that the notice was 20 square inches and not (an unreasonably large) 20 inches square.

If I wanted to nit pick (and I won't) I could say my son is the manager since he cuts the grass and fixes things for the other tenant. (He doesn't do things for which one needs a license!)

Thank you for responding.

 

[Zigner]

If I wanted to nit pick (and I won't) I could say my son is the manager since he cuts the grass and fixes things for the other tenant. (He doesn't do things for which one needs a license!)

Thank you for responding.

I think you may be missing the intent of the sign. It's not there to tell only you who the owner is, it's there to tell emergency responders.

 

[quincy]

What the signs do is relieve tenants from having to respond to notices of code violations or from having to inform their landlords of the violations.

The signs are designed to make sure the notices of violations are sent directly to the owner of the property (the one responsible for making sure the dwelling is up to code) so the owner can comply with any order issued by the code enforcement inspector.

I am not sure your son wants to take on that obligation.

 

[Stephen1]

I think you may be missing the intent of the sign. It's not there to tell only you who the owner is, it's there to tell emergency responders.

I can understand your interpretation of the intent, however when I read the statute I saw nothing about "for emergency responders" or "visible outside". Also, some of the commenters have referred to having posted similar info next to interior mailboxes (which may not be accessible to emergency responders). So, if there is no requirement for the information to be visible to the outside then the landlord could post the appropriate information inside each unit. Of course this is a problem for the landlord or her manager (if there is one) to resolve.

 

[Zigner]

I can understand your interpretation of the intent, however when I read the statute I saw nothing about "for emergency responders" or "visible outside". Also, some of the commenters have referred to having posted similar info next to interior mailboxes (which may not be accessible to emergency responders). So, if there is no requirement for the information to be visible to the outside then the landlord could post the appropriate information inside each unit. Of course this is a problem for the landlord or her manager (if there is one) to resolve.

Fair enough