Fires keep springing up at unlicensed apartments, Lawrence finds

As the demand for housing grows and rent prices rise, unlicensed apartments are proliferating in Massachusetts.

Two illegal apartments were recently found in Lawrence after a fire broke out on Sunday morning. No one was hurt, but the city is worried about the increasing numbers of unlawful dwellings they are finding, creating both fire and safety risks for the community.

Lawrence inspectional services found around 150 such apartments in 2022, officials said.

"A lot of things come into play: zoning requirements, building requirements, and the housing code requirements," said Arleny Almonte, a food and housing inspector for the city.

She said they don't want people to be scared to come forward and that the city just wants to help both the landlord and tenants.

"Sometimes we get complaints from people who are already tenants, sometimes we just go and do regular inspections and we end up finding out these instances are, unfortunately, illegal," Almonte said.

Lawrence Fire Chief Brian Moriarty said that, at most fires in the city, firefighters always find an unlawful dwelling.

"We want them to go through the proper process, make it so there are proper notifications for fire, smoke, [carbon monoxide] alarms, proper exits," Moriarty said.

Illegal dwellings are usually found in basements and attics, as was the case in the fire at the multifamily home Sunday on Bodwell Street -- one in the basement and one in the attic.

"This fire this weekend started because it was in an apartment, in an illegal basement. It started by an electrical heater of some sort. This wouldn't have started if this apartment wasn't there," Moriarty said.

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Not only is the city offering rental assistance to battle this issue but local nonprofits like Sharing Hope are trying to help amid the housing crisis.

"There is an office here in Lawrence that provides them with three months of rent upfront. We help them to fill out applications for housing and Section 8," said Claudia Aviles, Sharing Hope's president.

The city says that if a landlord is caught with an illegal apartment, they will be given a warning first. However, if they break the law again, they can face hundreds to thousands of dollars in fines.