What recourse do I have with my landlord/property mgmt company?

Question

I recently moved into an apartment in Washington D.C. and my first 2 heating bills were outlandish -- nearly $400 each for an apartment 1,000 sq feet. I called PEPCO, and they said there were no issues with the meter or their billing, and that I needed to speak with the property management company about the property. The property management company then said that it was PEPCO's issue and I should work with them. I finally got the property management company to send an HVAC vendor out, and the technician said that the HVAC units capacitor looks like it had been blown for some time, the filters hadn't been changed in over a year, and that the chimney flue had been left open (not by me). The main issue was the capacitor, and this was causing my usage to be 3x what it should be. I then asked about a potential reimbursment from the mgmt company, and they claim that everything was property inspected and imply that the issues must have only started after I moved in. They have NO evidence of inspecting the HVAC unit prior to my move in, however. They keep sending me blank inspection sheets or inspection sheets that have "N/A" by the HVAC line item and claim that it was in working order when I moved in. They are adamant that they "will not and are not obligated to reimburse" any portion of my heating bills. Although it isn't explicit in the lease, it seems as if the management company should be required to make sure everything is in working order before I move in. Please help!

Answer 1

Thank you for the responses. From looking through the lease and the DC Housing Code it looks like you all are correct for the most part -- although there are rules around how efficient the heating system has to work. My attention has turned to the DC Housing Code and preemptive implied warranty of habitability laws. The bedrooms in the unit have such poor airflow and insulation that it's been impossible to keep them above 65 degrees quite often. This was communicated to the management company much earlier in the winter, and they responded that they knew there was no direct heat flow in one room, and suggested that I pay for and install window and door insulation in both bedrooms if I'm not warm enough. They made it sound as if as long as there is SOME heat coming in, they had done their part -- which is not the case. They are required to provide heat efficient enough to keep ALL rooms 68 degrees during the day, and 65 degrees at night. The tough part is going to be proving that this wasn't obtainable before the repairs were made, and what the law states about the duration of the violations (i.e. surely if the HVAC motor breaks and is replaced 24 hours later, the landlord isn't in violation of the code).

Answer 2

They are correct, they do not have to pay any part of your bill. Their only legal requirement is to fix it. "it seems as if the management company should be required to make sure everything is in working order before I move in." Nope they are not required to do so. Yes they should check it but they do not have to. Landlords are not even legally required to clean between tenants. Again yes they should but it is not legally required. Just pointing out that landlords are required to do far less between tenants than most tenants think they are. No landlord is ever required to go over every unit with a white glove & a fine tooth comb. If the last tenant did not report anything with the HVAC they would not have known there was a problem.

Answer 3

The issue is not that it was not working because it was working, so your reasoning is faulty. Since it was working, they just did not bother to have someone come out and "maintain" the unit - clean the coils, check that it is still in good working order and pumping and circulating the air/heat/cooling as it should, etc. It was laziness or cheapness (maybe both) on the part of the landlord. Unfortunately, laziness and cheapness is not against the law and a landlord/owner is under no obligation to "maintain" his A/C unit in a high efficiency manner, if it is working okay. If it is working, it is working. That is all he is required to provide - a working unit. Maintenance prolongs the life of the unit and keeps it in better repair and causes it to not have to work so hard to do its job. For that reason, smart homeowners and landlords regularly maintain their units. The bill is yours. You can sue him and try to get some money out of him but, in my opinion, your chances are less than 50 percent. You would have to prove extreme negligence (you would need to have a copy of the HVAC guy 's report). Even if you could prove that he was negligent in maintaining the unit, causing the heating/cooling bill to be outrageously high, you would have to prove that he knew about it and chose to do nothing. Even still, it is up to him how often he chooses to have his equipment maintained. You may have a chance and you might win but, you will need to subpoena his records and you are going to have to do quite a job in court. Whether you are skilled enough to do that, I do not know but, hiring a lawyer at $350 per hour is out of the question. You would never recover the fees. If you do decide to sue him, sit in on some court cases and get the feel for what you are going to have to do to this guy in court. Essentially, you are going to have to aggressively attack him for his gross negligent that caused you damages, regardless of whether or not he was under any obligation to maintain the unit in good working order. It would help to know exactly when the unit was last serviced. Good luck.

Answer 4

You basically have no recourse. Your heating system was working, albeit inefficiently. Efficiency is NOT a maintenance requirement. That it works is all that is required.

Answer 5

Document everything, particular the clincher, the drop in heating charges after the HVAC repair, and use that documentation in a small claims court case. I would probably wait until I was about to move out because things might not be very friendly after that. Commonly the biggest challenge is to collecting the judgement from a small claims case.