The Hanover Collaboration

Dear Tenants of 18 East South Street:

I have very bad news. The pipes at 18 East South Street have
frozen and all of the radiators, toilets, and water lines have
burst. This means that as soon as the temperature in the house
gets back up above freezing more than a hundred of gallons of
frozen water will thaw out and leak, causing possible water
damage to your possessions. It seems that you did not make
sufficient arrangements to have oil delivered to the apartments
and you ran out and had no heat. It also appears that you did
not take precautions when going away to make sure you had someone
checking on your unit for you in case there was a problem. A
preliminary estimate is that it will cost in excess of $30,000 to
repair the heating system and pipes.

So:

1. Until we can get heat back into the building (fix all the
pipes which will probably take months) no one can live in these
apartments. You should begin looking for alternative housing
accommodations. I have spoken with people at Residential Life
and they do have housing. You should contact Gwen Williams or
Rachel Giguere at Residential Life right away if you are
interested as College offices are shutting down on December 22nd.
You could also look for alternative housing in the Upper Valley
Rental Housing list which this office puts together on our
website at: www.dartmouth.edu/realestate.

2. Someone needs to come and remove possessions from the
building to protect them from the water that will come out once
the temperature rises. This should be done immediately for the
protection of your possessions.

3. You should notify whatever company that you use for tenant
insurance to see if they will cover the damage to the building
(and to your possessions if you cannot get them out before the
water thaws). Remember that we are not responsible for the loss
of your possessions. If you planned on having a sub-lessee for
the winter term, you should contact them right away about their
need to find alternative accommodations and regarding the
potential damage to their property.

In taking about this in our office, it does seem like a waste of
money to spend in excess of $30,000 to make repairs for people to
live in the building for only one more term (as we are not
planning on renting these apartments again after June 30, 2006).
Under the terms of your lease we “may terminate the Lease by
providing the Lessee with 30 days written notification, for any
reason whatsoever…” It is not reasonable for us to expend
more money to fix a building which is going to be removed than we
get get in rent for the next six months. It would also save
you from having to reimburse us for the repairs. Accordingly,
this should serve as official notice that we are terminating your
leases at 18 East South Street as of January 31, 2006. I would
appreciate it if you all could discuss with each other what your
plans are and confirm with me your acknowledgment regarding the
lease termination and when you can get your possessions from the
building.

Susie