Repairs to a Rental Unit

If your landlord has a legal duty to make the repairs, you have certain legal remedies, which are described below. Warning: If you insist that your landlord make repairs, he/she may try to evict you or sue you for money. You should be prepared to prove your case in court. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the Court will find in your favor.

1.  Notify your landlord and ask him to make repairs. Take pictures of the needed repairs and write on the back of the pictures the date they were taken and what they show, such as “broken porch railing.” Have witnesses look at the needed repairs and make notes about what they see and when they saw it. Send a letter to your landlord notifying him/her of the needed repairs. Keep a copy of the letter for your records. Take the letter to the Post Office and send by both first class mail and certified mail, return receipt requested. The Post Office will give you a white receipt when you mail the letter, and a green receipt after the letter is delivered. Keep both receipts for your records. If you are facing an emergency, such as no heat in the winter, and you need the problem fixed immediately, you may want to call the county health department first.
2. After giving advance notice to the landlord, you may make reasonable, necessary repairs at your own expense and deduct the cost from the rent. The cost must be reasonable and cannot exceed the amount of rent owed for the balance of the lease term. For example, if you have 4 months remaining on a one-year lease, and your rent is $400 per month, you cannot deduct more than $1600 for repairs. Here’s another example: if you have a month to month lease and your rent is $400 per month, you cannot deduct more than a total of $400 from your rent for repairs. If you plan to hire a repairman to make the repairs, you should get two written estimates from qualified repairmen, who are not your relatives or friends. Select the most reasonable estimate. Show a copy of the estimate to your landlord and invite the landlord to arrange for the repairs himself/herself. If your landlord still refuses to make the repairs, and you are forced to pay for the repairs yourself, get a signed receipt. Then send your landlord a copy of the receipt along with a letter explaining that you have deducted the cost of the repairs from the rent.
3. You may withhold all of the rent if the entire premises are unfit for human habitation, or you may withhold part of the rent if part of the premises are unfit for human habitation. If your landlord sues you, a judge will decide if you withheld too much. So, if you withhold any rent, put it into a separate bank account so you will have the money just in case you need to pay part or all of it to the landlord to stop the eviction.
4. You may sue the landlord to recover all or part of the rent paid in the past while the premises were entirely or partly unfit.
5. Only if the unit is totally uninhabitable (e.g., a gas leak) should you move out and stop paying rent as the landlord may sue you for all rent remaining due until the end of your lease.