Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Helpful videos, photos, instructions, and tips to help you manage your apartment at MaxMia Properties

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IMPORTANT: PLEASE NOTE UPDATED 2022 WINTER ENERGY PRICE HIKES NOTED BY NATIONAL GRID – SEE ‘HEAT’ TAB BELOW FOR DETAILS

See each tab below for frequently asked questions and answers regarding your apartment, appliances, Worcester public services, etc.

77 Downing Street front

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Worcester Public Services

For Immediate Medical Or Safety Emergency, Dial 911

Please Note: if you are a tenant of one of our units, you are not considered part of the university student housing and campus. Any calls to Campus Police should concern issues that are occurring on campus only. You must contact Worcester police or Worcester EMS for emergencies, noise complaints, etc. happening around your building. All non-immediate building matters can be addressed to MaxMia Properties during normal business hours.

For Non-Emergency Police Help, Call:
Worcester Police: 508-799-8466

For small pests such as insects or mice, please call MaxMia Properties to discuss, or Report A Problem on this website.
For larger pests or animals that are creating a hazard in or around the apartment building, call:
Worcester Animal Control: 508-799-1211

For Gas – Heat, hot water, and gas stove inquiries call:

Eversource 1-800-592-2000

For Electricity call:

National Grid 1-800-322-3223

Internet Services:

Charter/Spectrum: 1-866-874-2389 or 1-800-971-8185
PLEASE NOTE: NO “DISH” SERVICES ARE ALLOWED

Cable & Internet

All apartments will have a cable/internet port available, generally in the living room area. See photo above for an example of a cable plug, and a standard coaxial cable connected to it.
NO DISH SERVICE ALLOWED IN BUILDINGS. We generally allow Charter/Spectrum cable or cable/internet hookups in our units. Please contact them to schedule your internet setup.
Always make sure to indicate you are a new resident at this address, so that you are not involved with the account particulars of the previous tenant.
Situate the modem and your wireless router (if you are setting one up yourself) at an optimal location for the unit for best wi-fi signal. The modem is the device given to you by your cable/internet provider, that connects to the wall via a coaxial cable. Depending on the model, some modems can also double as a wi-fi router, or you can choose to connect your own router and set it up yourself. Make sure to situate all devices in a way that they are hidden but reachable if you need to restart or reset them.
Always protect your wi-fi and assign a secure password to your access point. Your internet service is for your and your roommates’ use only.
Remember to return all cable/internet equipment you are renting from the cable/internet provider when you move out. We are not responsible for equipment left behind and any fees associated with the return of this equipment.

Cleaning & Organizing

: clear hallway

: clear stairs and hallway

: clean under radiators

: clean under radiators

Please keep your apartments clean by sweeping for dust and other materials everywhere, including under heating radiators, furniture, corners, etc.
Keep all surfaces clear, especially of food items or crumbs.
Secure all trash in bins and bags + trash receptacle so that none of it is cluttering your hallways or staircases.

This will help to keep you healthy in your apartment, and also will deter small pests such as mice from gathering.

Dishwasher

Please take care to load the dishwasher carefully. There is a particular way dishware and utensils should be loaded in a dishwasher in order to efficiently clean them, and also to avoid things like a leaking dishwasher, or other mechanical failures. Please don’t hesitate to ask us for recommended usage of the particular dishwasher in your unit.
Please see this article about how to properly prepare dishware for a dishwasher: https://www.wikihow.life/Load-a-Dishwasher
Here is a helpful video with general tips on loading a dishwasher properly:
Cleaning the filter on a dishwasher: please see the following video for some basic instructions on how take your dishwasher apart in order to clean the filter, which is recommended to do from time to time to keep the dishwasher running smoothly. Make sure to clean the filter that is located at the bottom of the dishwasher/ We recommend that you contact our office if you would prefer that we send someone over to service your dishwasher for you. Please call us or use our Report A Problem form.
Clear your dishes before placing them in the dishwasher.

Electrical

Circuit Breakers

If you notice that the electricity is only partially working in your unit, and does not appear to be out in the other units in your building, or the street lights and other buildings on your street appear unaffected, that may mean your circuit breakers simply need to be reset. Please view the video below to see how each unit’s set of circuits are labeled, what they look like, and how to reset the circuit breaker. Note that all circuit breaker switches should be aligned in the same position, if one switch is not, then it needs to be reset so it matches the rest.
GFI Plugs
If you find that just a portion of your kitchen’s outlets are no longer working, you may need to reset the Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) plug that is on your wall. It is typically a red switch that may be popped out if the above is the case. Please see the video below for instructions on how to reset the GFI plug and restore power to your outlets.

Heat

Pests

Mice will generally enter your home to look for food and things like dust or detritus with which they can build nests. Keeping your apartment neat with no food left out on counters and tabletops, no food crumbs on the ground or other surfaces, etc. will give mice less things to forage for and remain in your unit. Do not leave out any cooking oil or exposed peanut butter, as this attracts mice or rats a great deal.
Try to store all dry food inside tupperware containers instead of plastic bags or cardboard boxes in your cupboards.
As we are in New England, it is cold for most of the year. Mice and other rodents will generally try to move inside a building where it is warm, during the cold months. Please let us know if you see evidence of mice such as droppings or unattended food that was left chewed, and we will do our best to seal off any potential entrances for mice.
Clean under radiators and around cupboards and fridges.
For mouse traps, we generally use the poison approach, which is not as messy as other alternatives. See photo above for a poison bait trap. Mice always generally run alongside walls and corners, so these traps are perfect for luring the mouse to take a bite of the poison, which makes them incredibly thirsty. This causes them to leave the building quickly in search of water, so they do not die within the building walls or on your floor.

Refrigerator Care

Proper refrigerator care includes making sure to keep the insides of the fridge, and the doors, clean and free of grime or detritus. This helps to keep the refrigerator doors sealing the cool air in properly. Please see the video below on tips to maintain your fridge and prevent cool air leaking
Keep all meat products in your freezer until you are ready to thaw the meat for cooking
Fresh produce will keep for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, so it is advisable to cook your vegetables as close to the time you obtained them as possible
Use tupperware containers to keep leftovers separated, so that the odors from all your food can be kept separate from everything else inside the fridge

Rent

parts of a check

All rent checks are due by the 1st of each month.
To write out a check:
- (1) will display your name and mailing address for your bank account; make sure to update the address on the check if your checks are not up to date.
- Decide who among your housemates will be responsible for collecting everyone’s portion of rent, and paying the full sum via one check; separate checks from each tenant will not be accepted.
- Make the check out to MAXMIA PROPERTIES in (2).
- Write the number amount of the total rent in (3) e.g. $1200.
- Write the rent amount in words in (4) e.g. ONE THOUSAND AND TWO HUNDRED.
- Important: please write your Street Address and Apt # in Memo (5) so that we can easily track your unit’s payment.
- Write today’s date in (6).
- Sign YOUR name in (7). Do not sign anywhere else on the check. Do not write on the back.
- (9) is the Routing Number of your bank. This is used to identify which bank holds your account.
- (10) is your Account Number with the bank
- (11) is the check #; make a note on your end regarding which check # was written out for your month’s rent.
Please see our Online BillPay page for suggestions on how to set up rent payments via your bank, or with Zelle.

Resident Street Parking

parking-residential

For details, see the following page: https://www.worcesterma.gov/parking/residential-parking-program

If you are parking your vehicle on your street, you will want to make sure to retain a resident parking pass from the city of Worcester. This will ensure that you will keep your parking spots and not lose out to a non-resident. All areas marked “Resident Parking Only” should only be used by valid Resident Parking pass holders for the city of Worcester.

To register for a Resident Parking pass, please see the link above.

Smoke Alarms

It is a good idea to test your smoke alarms from time to time. You do not have to generally replace the batteries in our smoke alarms for years at a time. Please call us if you are having issues with your smoke alarm.
Never remove or disable smoke alarms.
If a smoke alarm is going off without any fire or smoke in the apartment:
- it may have been triggered by general humidity in the apartment. Try opening your windows, or using your bathroom exhaust fan. Sometimes, smoke alarms can get set off by someone taking a hot shower with the bathroom door open, causing steam to collect in the hallway.
- it may have been triggered by a small insect walking through it or around it; check to make sure there are no cobwebs or dust around the alarm
To reset your smoke alarm, use the end of a broom handle, or safely climb a small step stool, and hold down the center button, as shown in the video above. Sometimes the smoke alarm will cycle through all of its voice prompts (e.g. “Fire”, “Evacuate”, etc.) until it goes quiet. See our video above for how long to depress the center button to complete resetting the smoke alarm.

Trash & Recycling

See the city of Worcester’s trash and recycling schedule and schedule map to see when trash pickup will occur in your area: http://www.worcesterma.gov/trash-recycling/schedule
Every unit always inherits a recycling bin from the previous tenants. If your unit does not have a Recycling bin, call DPW Customer Service at 508-929-1300 and arrange to purchase a bin for your unit from them.
What goes in the trash?
See Worcester DPW’s webpage on trash disposal, cost of yellow city trash bags, and what goes or does not go into your trash: http://www.worcesterma.gov/trash-recycling/trash-disposal
Note: trash pickup will only happen with trash placed into yellow city trash bags. These bags can be purchased at most grocery stores and some convenience stores.
What goes into recycling?
See Worcester DPW’s webpage on recycling, what is acceptable or not acceptable to place into recycling: http://www.worcesterma.gov/trash-recycling/recycling
Note: you must separate plastics and paper, with plastics going into your green bin, and you can designate a separate bin for paper/cardboard only.

Trash & Reycling Pickup Schedules

To see the most up to date Worcester MA sanitation pickup schedules, please see the Worcester city website’s page here: https://www.worcesterma.gov/trash-recycling/schedule

Weekly trash pickup and bi-weekly recycling pickup will occur at scheduled times for specific streets / neighborhoods.

If your apartment doesn’t already have a recycling bin assigned to that address, you must acquire a new bin from the city of Worcester directly.

Washer and Dryer

Water/Plumbing

Windows & Blinds

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All properties owned by MaxMia Properties LLC

226 Dewey Street, Worcester, MA 01610

Office: 508 304 9100

Cell: 617 513 5555

Fax: 508 304 9101