Landlord not replacing washing machine (apartment, lease, tenant, eviction)
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I live in an apartment and our laundry machine started leaking 2 months ago. The landlord initially claimed it was our fault but later on she stated that she would replace it. It has been 2 months since she said that. We contacted her a few times and she kept saying the washing machine was on back order. She finally reached out last week stating she would replace it today. She came today but instead of replacing it she brought a technician to investigate why it stopped working and if the leak was our fault. In our previous emails with her she clearly indicated she would replace it today. She said she has to speak with the repair technician to see why it was leaking and she will let us know. That was not our agreement in the email.
The fact that we have not had a working laundry machine and she said she was going to replace it today and did not, do I have any legal recourse to sue her in any way in court? Our lease does state that we have laundry in the unit and that any repairs and/or replacement should be done in a adequate time frame. I do not think 2 months is adequate and to not have a working laundry machine is unacceptable. I do admit that it is not an essential necessity as we can use coin laundry but that is not was what agreed upon nor what is in our lease.
...and to not have a working laundry machine is unacceptable.
The landlord initially claimed....
Yes, if the lease describes the laundry equipment then they'll need to deal with it
but not working doesn't rise to a habitability matter, meaning that dawdling over the work,
even through incompetence, isn't really actionable.
Are there OTHER maintenance/repair conditions related to habitability?
No there are no other issue relating to habitability, only the washing machine not working. In my state, it does indicate that the landlord has 30 days after notifying them to repair any non-urgent issues; urgent issues being anything relating to habitability, ie: heating, gas leak, water, pests, lead paint, etc.
If the landlord does not repair the issue within 30 days, the tenant has the option to pay the rent to the gen district court through an escrow account. I am looking into this option now.
It would be a lot cheaper for you to buy a new washing machine than to hire a lawyer to file a lawsuit for you.
You can use the option of escrowing rent with the housing courts until it is repaired. If you did your proper notification and have proof of that. If you stop paying rent, I predict that will get fixed fast. But don't just stop paying rent, do the proper procedure and escrow the rent with the courts.
Is the washing machine in your apartment or apartment building? If it's apartment building, there is probably not much you can do. If inside apartment there is not much you can do at this point being she is in the process of either having it fixed or replaced or refusing to fix it because it's your fault. You need to let it play out.
No there are no other issue relating to habitability, only the washing machine not working. In my state, it does indicate that the landlord has 30 days after notifying them to repair any non-urgent issues; urgent issues being anything relating to habitability, ie: heating, gas leak, water, pests, lead paint, etc.
If the landlord does not repair the issue within 30 days, the tenant has the option to pay the rent to the gen district court through an escrow account. I am looking into this option now.
Might want to be careful with withholding rent. It’s a specific thing that is used for specific reasons... usually habitability. You can’t withhold rent over a washing machine as it is not a habitability issue. It’s a inconvenience for sure but it does not make your unit uninhabitable. So you may find yourself getting some late fees if not eviction notices.
If you were to sue you would need a monetary amount for damages. Basically you would need to calculate the amount of laundry loads you do for the duration of your lease. You would need to figure out your cost to go to a laundromat, like the amount of fuel/wear tear on your vehicle/mileage cost and what assuming you work, the income amount you would be losing in that amount of time that now you are doing laundry at a laundromat to get a actual “damage “ figure.
I had a rental that I offered a washer dryer in my lease. After multiple calls to a repair service, actual replacement of the unit twice in I think three years at $500 a pop, I simply sent a proper notice that W/D wil no longer be offered once these machines break. The hookups are available if tenants want to get their own washer dryer. I no longer offer washer/dryer in any of my rentals.
The reason the machines kept breaking was due to excessive overloading and I later found out that more people than the ones who resided there were using the machine.
Why don’t you text your LL (so you have a record of this) and say you now have waited x amt of time and today you were told a new washer was coming but it did not happen. Suggest (“lets agree next month’s rent will be $50 less for this trouble”) you reduce your next rent $50 for the costs and inconvenience to use a laundromat and remind her that you need this remedied immediately.
You should get a response. At this point, I wouldn’t worry about angering the LL!
You can withold rent beyond the lame squawking here that it's only for "habitabilty" reasons. If the oven is not working and you gave adequate notice without any resolution, you can withold it. Notification is key. Along with active cooperation with both sides.
So too with most appliances that were there since the lease began. One case was about a window a/c. Tenant witheld rent and landlord sued for the rent. Judge ruled in favor of tenant . Repairs commonly are on the landlords to repair .
Our closet door went off track. They could argue with us that we flung it to quickly..or they could simply repair it. Somethings just need repaired. Most landlords pick their battles and understand wear and tear.
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