When you rent a place to live, your landlord must ensure it is safe, sanitary, and comfortable. Use this guide for habitability and essential service problems in a rental home or apartment.
Let Your Landlord Know About the Issues in Writing
It's best to use a method that proves when you contacted your landlord and what you discussed. Certified mail with a return receipt requested generally serves as the best proof of this in court, but other contact methods (email, text, tenant portal) are also often accepted in court. You can click here to use our sample letter. Be sure to keep a copy of everything you send.
Wait 48 Hours for Essential Service Issues
Your landlord has 48 hours (not including holidays or weekends) to fix problems with essential services or make their best effort to do so. Unless your lease says something different, these are the essential services that must be provided:
- Heat
- Air conditioning
- Running water
- Hot water
- Electricity
- Gas
- A functioning door lock
Wait 14 Days for Habitability Issues
Your landlord has 14 days (including weekends) to fix habitability issues (known as "non-essential services") or make their best effort to do so. Your apartment or house is not habitable if it violates health, safety, sanitation, or fitness for habitation codes (a citation has been issued) or if you have any of the following problems:
- Leaks or holes in the roof, exterior walls, windows, and doors
- Poor plumbing facilities (water supply system doesn't deliver hot and cold water, isn't connected to all fixtures that use water, or isn't connected to a sewage disposal system)
- Electrical lighting, equipment, or outlets don't work
- An inadequate number of places to put trash or the landlord hasn't arranged for removal of garbage
- Dirty building or dirty amenities and grounds under the control of the landlord (should be reasonably free from debris, rodents, insects, and vermin)
- Problems with floors, interior walls, ceilings, stairways, and elevators
- Problems with ventilation, air conditioning, heat, and other facilities and appliances
Enforce Your Rights if Your Landlord Fails to Repair
If your landlord doesn't restore an essential service within the required time, you can:
- purchase the necessary service yourself and deduct the cost from the rent;
- find alternative housing until the issue is fixed (without paying rent at the property);
- withhold your rent until the service is restored without receiving late fees; or
- sue your landlord for damages (money).
If your landlord doesn't fix a habitability issue within the required time, you can:
- end your lease agreement immediately and move out;
- sue your landlord for damages (money);
- pay for repairs on your own and deduct those from your rent (you can only deduct up to one month’s rent within a year and only after providing an itemized bill to your landlord); or
- withhold your rent (if you receive an eviction notice, deposit the rent into the court's escrow account when filing an answer).
Take Action if Your Landlord Tries to Evict You
Some landlords may disagree with your actions and serve you with an eviction notice. If this happens, you must file an answer within the time you're given on the notice to preserve your rights and raise your defenses. Filing an answer and selecting the habitability/essential services defenses gives you the opportunity to point out the issues with your rental to a judge or hearing master on your court date. If you withheld your rent, you will pay it to the court after you file an answer and receive your case number. Be sure to keep all documents, receipts, and communications with your landlord for evidence.
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Law & Caution Episode
Our Consumer Rights Project attorneys discussed how to legally withhold rent, seek reimbursement for repairs, and terminate a lease due to habitability and essential service issues in an episode of our Law & Caution podcast, "Habitability: What to Do if Your Landlord Is Not Repairing."
