Hot water heater broken in a rental/electrical problems;landlord will not return my calls. What are my rights?

Question

We moved into a rental townhome two weeks ago. There are many issues with the home, and my landlord LOVES to ignore my calls/emails for days at a time. We had severe electrical issues, i.e. sporadic power outages on varying walls, power surges etc. which my landlord serviced three days later with an uncertified electrician who could not find the source of the problem. He replaced some receptacles, but it did not solve the issue. The heat pump was also broken, and we lived without heat for a week (in the middle of winter), when he finally returned my numerous phone calls. The homeowner (different from my landlord) agreed to replace the unit and it was installed this past Friday.

We still have scary electrical issues, AND a water heater that is partially broken. He have hot water for about 5 minutes, and then it's gone. Even if we are just using a kitchen faucet or taking a shower, the time window is still the same: 6 minutes.

My landlord once again will not return my calls. I have contacted my local codes authority about our concerns, and they are inspecting our home in the next couple days to determine if it is habitable. However, since many of our concerns are not classified as 'major issues' I am concerned about what we can legally do to remedy the situation.

After everything we've been through in 2 weeks (some things not even mentioned here), we would love to just move out and run; however, just as we have rights as tenants, we also have responsibilities. What am I within my legal right to do? Have my rent escrowed? Move out and break the lease? Can I really repair and deduct without penalty?

Answer 1

I was going to say.. the one thing NOT to do is withhold rent. You have an agreement to pay the agreed upon rent (and he has responsibilities as a landlord).. the last thing you want to do is violate the agreement because you think *he* violated it. He can have you evicted for that and will probably win.



The proper way goes something like this--send the owner a certified letter describing the 'electrical issues' problems and tell him you expect to hear from him in 7 days or you will take it upon yourself to have it fixed at his expense. If you don't hear anything then have it fixed, pay the guy and send they owner a copy of the bill, requesting he compensate you. If he doesn't send payment (say, within 60 days) take him to small claims court.



The electrical issues could be a safety issue so get it fixed. As far as the water heater.. you do have hot water, its just not as much as you'd like. It's probably because the water heater is too small or its old and filled with sediment. You may not win that battle.

Answer 2

Since code enforcement is coming you have done what you can.



Be prepared to move, if the house is not habitable you have to move out right away. This voids your lease, so no worries there.



You can't escrow rent without a court order, which will not happen. The only real issue here is the hot water, and if there isn't any you leave, there isn't a middle ground.



You can't repair and deduct as nothing (other then the hot water) has to be repaired.



I suspect the hot water problem is the thermostat, since it does heat water. If it is turned all the way up but still not heating the water properly that part is usually replaced (cost about 10 bucks). If the hot water heater needs replacing that is about 300. Code enforcement may give the landlord 24 hours to get you a new hot water heater instead of condemning the house.

Answer 3

Rent A Water Heater

Answer 4

my daughter has a neighbor who contacted a state mediator in the matter of her rental problems and the landlord was forced to take care of things ASAP

you possibly have a local housing authority that can be of some assistance, your state has a housing board that has some overall general requirements which local agencies can add to

but check your yellow pages for your local and/or your county housing authority

Answer 5

First, send WRITTEN repair requests so you have proof. Go through the owner if need be.



Wait for the code people. Realize that if the say it is not inhabitable, you will have to leave right away...

Answer 6

With hold your rent asap as this is the only way i could get my landlady to get repairs done Be bold ! x