I am renting a private house in New Jersey. Since the temperature has dropped drastically, the house has been very cold. I told the owner and asked for help. The owner after a few weeks finally came by the house and after a long talk, the owner told us that there was nothing that he could do, but we can move if we want to. I explained to the owner that we did not want to move, but the these were not proper living conditions especially since we have a small child. I also informed the owner that the reason for the house being so cold was that the windows were old and needed to be replaced. After some more talking the owner told us that he would pay for half of the windows.

My question is should we have to pay for half of the cost of replacing the windows?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

Whether you should pay for half the cost of the windows is not something regulated by NJ landlord/tenant law. As long as there are windows then the house is habitable and the landlord has met his obligation.

Do you really like living there? Do you intend to stay there? If so then it might be worth making an investment in the house and splitting the cost with the landlord. However if I were in your position I would save my money. Spring is coming and it's going to warm up. I'd save my money and try to buy a house so I could invest in my own property and not someone else's property.

Hello brook:

I realize that you've got bad windows, therefore your complaint should be high heating costs rather than it being too cold.

Wassa matter with the heater? Of course, if the house doesn't have one or if it doesn't work, I suggest the landlord hasn't met his obligation.

excon

I agree with Lisa, that making such an investment in rental property is throwing away money.

There are fairly inexpensive ways of insulating drafty windows. Go down to your local Home Depot and ask them for some ideas.