August 7, 2023

To whom it may concern:

We, the residents of Sofi at Salem Station, wish to formally inform the management of Sofi at Salem Station and all relevant stakeholders regarding our growing concerns pertaining to the existing management practices and communication strategies within this apartment complex.

For the last year and a half, property management has been focused primarily on projects related to aesthetics, gauged at luring people in to move here, while disregarding proper maintenance of these now aging buildings.

We have reason to believe that Sofi at Salem Station has violated (and continues to violate) multiple City, State, and Federal laws in regard to their treatment of tenants. 

Our concerns are listed in detail below. 

1. Air Conditioning: With summer upon us, multiple residents have complained of central air conditioning systems breaking down. For some tenants, these systems have been broken since May of 2023 (3+ months). Management’s solution has been small window AC units for primary bedrooms, and they have, in some cases, never even inspected the central units - months after the issues were first reported. 

2. Security: Residents across the complex live with the constant knowledge that their packages could be easily stolen, with no potential for recourse or police investigations. This has run especially rampant during the holiday season. This could be solved with the simple implementation of security cameras in hallways or entrances. 

We additionally have doors not properly shutting (or not latching at all) for many consecutive days, with management being slow to address this major security risk. 

Finally, the codes for the building entrances have not been changed in over 3 years, which is a clear risk to current tenants and property theft. 

3. Pests: Ground floor units are overwhelmed with bugs, rodents, and other vermin. This is due largely to three fixable issues: 

a) When the new management company took over, they replaced real, closable screen doors, with soft mesh flaps easily circumnavigated by pests. (Violation of MA Dept. of Public Health law 105 CMR 410.540)
b) The management has been informed by exterminators of easily fillable foundation cracks, which pests are using to enter the building, and have chosen not to fill these cracks. (Violation of MA Dept. of Public Health law 105 CMR 410.500)
c) The management has been informed by exterminators that the bushes and plant life that is directly up against the buildings are not recommended for close planting to residential properties, as they are the natural habitat for many bugs and vermin that will enter the nearby buildings if they are planted too close.

This note should be especially alarming to Sofi management - as according to Massachusetts state law a pest-free apartment is a basic tenant-right:

From the state of MA - Cockroaches and Rodents: The landlord must maintain the unit free from rodents, cockroaches, and insect infestation, if there are two or more apartments in the building. 

We will be calling the Board of Health in regards to this item. 

4. Construction Work: Soon after the new management took over the complex, they repainted all parking spot numbers, and reassigned the spots. The complex gave very little notice of the need for residents to move their cars and did not provide adequate alternative parking spots when cars were forced to be moved. In a complex with many elderly and disabled residents, this was especially difficult for those who need easy access to the apartments.

More recently, the buildings have had their exteriors updated. This has caused mass confusion - residents were informed during the 4th of July week, when many people host families and gather in their apartments, that they would need to move all patio furniture inside for 10 days during painting. No painting occurred during this time. Later, when painting began, painters were knocking on people’s patio doors and forcing them to move their patio furniture inside with no notice at all. 

In the past few weeks, retrimming work has occurred on buildings 2 and 1, and tenants were not informed of the work until hours after it had already begun. Additionally, work has consistently begun at 7:30 AM each day. According to Salem, MA Ordinance Chapter 22 Article I, Section 22-2 (5):

The following acts, among others, and the causing thereof are declared to be loud, disturbing and unnecessary noises and to be in violation of this chapter, but such enumeration shall not be deemed to be exclusive:

Construction. Operating or permitting the operation of tools or equipment used in construction or demolition work between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. the following day on weekdays and Saturdays or at any time on Sundays or holidays, such that the sound therefrom creates a noise disturbance across a residential real property boundary, except for emergency work of public service utilities or by special variance issued by the building inspector pursuant to this Code and notification to the police department. Before a waiver is granted, the city council shall be notified that a waiver is being considered. A copy of any special variance issued by the building inspector pursuant to this subsection shall be forwarded to the city council.

This work is purely for aesthetic purposes and involves loud hammering, drilling, and banging directly on the windows and doors of every unit in the building. It is in obvious and direct violation of the Salem Noise ordinance.  

5. Gym Facilities: The Gym is a luxury, not a right, but it is a luxury that residents pay a premium to have access to. The gym lacks air conditioning, making it a health risk in the hot summer months. Additionally, the gym lack sanitary wipes of any kinds, which can pose a health risk as it is a shared facility. 

6. Elevators: The elevator in building 3 frequently malfunctions, and has an obvious typo in it's inspection paperwork. 

According to MA housing elevator guidance: If an elevator is unsafe, regularly breaks down, or has other mechanical problems and the housing provider refuses to take steps to get it repaired. 

Then the tenants are within their rights to call the Elevator Board of Regulations. 

7. Garbage Disposal: As many tenants know, rarely a week passes where the garbage compactor does not fill to the point where bags must be left on sidewalk areas around the garbage area. The same can be said for the recycling, which regularly overflows - sometimes days before the scheduled garbage pick up. 

Many tenants have also pointed out the obvious smell around building 5, and the inconvenient location of the compactor, with many residents forced to drive their trash to the compactor. 

This is in violation of MA Dept. of Public Health law 105 CMR 410.600:

(C) The owner of any dwelling that contains three or more dwelling units... shall provide as many receptacles for the storage of garbage and rubbish as are sufficient to contain the accumulation before final collection or ultimate disposal, and shall locate them so as to be convenient to the tenant and so that no objectionable odors enter any dwelling.

8. Handicap Entrance: In building 4, there is no handicap accessible door. Handicapped residents may exit the build, but not to enter it. 

We believe this is likely a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but are researching further for the exact law associated with this violation. 

9. Unresponsive Management: Not only has management been unresponsive to our concerns (none of the above will be news to management) - but they have also been literally unresponsive. Emails to the management of Sofi at Salem Station are regularly ignored, and sometimes never responded to at all. 

In conclusion, we demand that management immediately address these concerns, and we will be reaching out to the city of Salem and the Board of Health in regard to the obvious violations.

Signed, The residents of Sofi at Salem Station