I have been renting a townhouse for 3 years. My Air conditioner broke in mid April I attempted to contact my out of state landlord, asking it please be repaired or That I was willing to have it fixed and deduct the amount from the upcoming MAy rent. This was sent in a form of email, She contacted me some two weeks later and said No do not deduct from the rent, in fact she would have the air fixed after Mays rent was paid. It has been very warm and uncomfortable I have a small child with asthma and she has had some breathing problems due to the heat and humidity. I was attempting to reach a high ceiling fan to cool off a 86 degree house and I feel off a small latter pulling ligaments in my foot and putting me in a brace and on crutches. I have not paid the rent since she has yet to send anyone to fix the air. What are my rights? Can I not pay rent until fixed? If she fixes the air after I have been all month in heat do I owe the whole month rent or just a portion?
Thanks,
Celinda

[QUOTE=celinda]I have been renting a townhouse for 3 years. My Air conditioner broke in mid April I attempted to contact my out of state landlord, asking it please be repaired or That I was willing to have it fixed and deduct the amount from the upcoming MAy rent. This was sent in a form of email, She contacted me some two weeks later and said No do not deduct from the rent, in fact she would have the air fixed after Mays rent was paid. It has been very warm and uncomfortable I have a small child with asthma and she has had some breathing problems due to the heat and humidity. I was attempting to reach a high ceiling fan to cool off a 86 degree house and I feel off a small latter pulling ligaments in my foot and putting me in a brace and on crutches. I have not paid the rent since she has yet to send anyone to fix the air. What are my rights? Can I not pay rent until fixed? If she fixes the air after I have been all month in heat do I owe the whole month rent or just a portion?


This should be a new thread - no one will see it here.

Send a registered letter stating that the air conditioner is a necessity and giving a time frame following receipt in which it must be repaired and after that date you are having it repaired and subtracting it from your rent. I'd say 48 hours. You MUST have proof the landlord was notified and while e-mails back and forth are admissible I think I'd make things as "legal" as possible.

You can always go to Small Claims Court and sue her for a portion of your rent - take your daughter's Doctor's statements that she NEEDS air condition - but then I would expect your lease not to be renewed. I'm not saying it's fair but, unfortunately, that's how these things usually work.

If you simply don't pay rent you can evicted on those grounds.

(Is it a possibility the landlord has made arrangements but the repair person hasn't been able to get there yet?)

First its not a good idea to piggyback your question on someone else's. This can lead to confusion. You should start a new thread. So I've moved your question to its own thread.

Judy is correct, you have NO right at this point to withhold rent. Nor do you have the right pay less than the required rent. The only way you can apply a portion of the rental to the repair is if you give the landlord a reasonable time frame to effect the repair and she doesn't.

Hello C:

Different states have different ways in which to legally deal with this issue. We have a copy of all the state landlord tenant laws right here at the top of the real estate page on a "sticky" note.

I'd go read your states law, and do what it says.

excon