🏠 Lease signing season is upon us

🌷 April showers are rolling in today. If you need some help making sure your May flowers will look just right, meteorologist Dave Epstein has some tips.

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first...

Found your next apartment? Slow your roll before signing the lease. We talked to Mass. real estate lawyer Deborah A. Bondzie to find out what you should look for in your rental agreement before making it official.

Here’s her advice:

👀 Give yourself time to read the lease. Bondzie said that while there may be multiple people vying for the place, you should still ask for time to look it over. “A lot of leases are pretty standard and boilerplate, and so hopefully, it'll be straightforward to understand," Bondzie said. But if you don’t understand something, ask the landlord (or an attorney, if you can).

❓ Ask as many questions as possible. Pets are a classic example, but also ask if subletting is possible or what would happen if you need to break the lease before the year is up. Bondzie emphasizes it’s important to get on the same page with who you’re renting from.

📸 Take pics of the apartment. Bondzie recommends you have photos of the condition of the apartment you’re renting to keep for your records, and that the landlord should have photos, too. This can come in handy if you have to fill out a condition statement. And if your landlord has agreed to any repairs on the apartment, make sure to get it in writing before you sign.

📝 If they’re collecting a security deposit, make sure it’s in writing. Bondzie said that it’s a definite red flag if it’s not written in your lease. Mass. law requires that the amount of the security deposit and a disclosure of the Mass. security deposit law are both in the rental agreement.

📱 Know how to contact the people in charge of the property. Mass. law requires the name, address, and phone number of both who’s responsible for property maintenance and who’s responsible for getting notices of law violations in your rental agreement.

🚂 Two men allegedly defrauded the company that runs the commuter rail. John P. Pigsley, a former official at Keolis, was charged with allegedly defrauding the commuter rail operator out of over $8 million meant for MBTA commuter rail repairs and renovations. Pigsley was indicted on federal charges along with John Rafferty, who worked for a Keolis vendor and allegedly helped in the scheme.

🌱 Boston is getting greener. At least with their building codes. The City Council voted to 8-4 to adopt an optional state building code that strongly discourages the use of fossil fuels in new developments. While it doesn’t outright ban fossil fuels, it adds expensive energy efficiency requirements for developers, like installing solar panels. It will now go to the Mayor’s desk for final approval.

😷 Health groups ask Healey to keep masks on, while BU rolls back vax mandate. Some health advocacy groups want health care facilities to keep mask mandates after the state lifts the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11. Citing low COVID transmission rates, administration officials plan to lift the rule next month. Meanwhile, BU has rolled back their COVID vaccine requirement for students, faculty, and staff on campus. The jab is now only required for those on campus who provide “patient-facing healthcare."

🏈 Anybody interested in Mac Jones? Apparently that’s what Bill Belichick was trying to see this offseason. Belichick reportedly shopped Jones to at least four teams, including the Buccaneers. While Belichick may not be excited about Jones, Patriots owner Robert Kraft told reporters last week that he’s a “big fan” of No. 10. Former Pats defensive back Jason McCourty also offered his two cents: “Be careful what you wish for in hopes of ‘there’s something better’ on the other side.”

If Harvard was a character in “The Hunger Games,” who would it be?

Tufts University student Grace Gong has some thoughts. She recently made a TikTok assigning characters from the best-selling series to Boston-area schools, and for the most part, they track.

In her view, “Harvard is Clove and Clove is Harvard,” referring to the District Two tribute. She made this pick because Clove is “smart, snakey, and iconic.” BU is Peeta because “he’s there, everyone loves him” and “he takes up space.” And Northeastern is Primrose because “everyone loves it and seems to want to protect it.”

You can see what other schools made the character list here.

🎨 Thanks for reading! I think Peeta should be Mass. Art. I mean, he’s a painter. It’s perfect.

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