I live in an apartment I'm renting in Cambrigde, MA. Long story short, my apartment is freezing, and my landlady, when contacted, has said she'd send someone out to look at the radiators, but said she "wasn't comfortable paying for it" and essentially accused either me or my boyfriend of breaking the heating, which is basically impossible.
We've got radiators. There's a valve that looks like some sort of release valve on each, with numbers that go from 0 - 8. Then there's a valve on the pipe that leads into the radiator, which I assume controls the flow of gas. The radiator in our bedroom works most of the time but still doesn't keep the place very warm. The radiator in the living room is turned to the same settings as the one in the bedroom and makes noises, so I know it's working, but doesn't do much for heat.
I don't have a thermostat so I can't even control how warm it is. The landlady offered at one point to get some space heaters until someone checks out our heat, but she pays for heat and WE pay for electricity, so I feel like this is a ploy. In MA, after Sept. 14th the apartment apparently needs to be above 68 degrees at all times, and I'm allowed to have it as hot as 78 F. I went so far as to go out and buy a thermostat today - it's been 64 F most of the day and is getting colder.
I've got a lease agreement through the spring, and am worried about pushing this hard, as when I move out, I don't want to have to worry about a bad reference even though I always pay my rent on day one and have only ever once contacted the landlady about a toilet plug which was resolved quickly.
Thanks in advance.
Force landlord to make repairs
As in any situation where the apartment does not satisfy the housing code, you need to take action to force the landlord to make repairs. Good luck.