Tag Archives: habitability

Habitability & Residential Leases, Pt 2

Alberts Law, Topics of Interest, , ,

Now that we will looked at what the implied warranty of habitability is in residential leases, we should look at your options for enforcement of this right. Court cases have stressed that the landlord must be aware of the circumstances before you take action to solve the problem. Because the stakes are so important (having a place to live and living in a place that is safe, sanitary, and healthy), you should provide notice to the landlord in writing. You need to describe the problem, request that the landlord fixes it, and state what you will do if the repair isn’t made. In your notice, you need to give the landlord a reasonable amount of time to make the repair.

Although a “reasonable amount of time” is hard to define, the deadline depends on how urgent the repair is. For example, a lack of heat in the middle of winter probably needs to be handled sooner than an infestation of cockroaches that’s limited to one room since bitter cold generally would be a bigger threat to health. You also need to keep a copy of the writing that you give to the landlord, and you should consider sending the letter to the landlord by certified mail, return receipt requested, in an attempt to get additional proof that you provided notice.

If the landlord lets a reasonable deadline pass without making a repair that involves habitability of your rental unit, then you can take the action that you stated in the writing to the landlord. As for what you might consider, there are some common options. ”Repair and deduct” often is a good choice. Find someone who is qualified make the necessary repair and pay for the reasonable cost of this work. Then, when you pay your rent, you deduct this cost from the rent and include documentation of the cost of the repair with this payment — provide the landlord with a copy and keep the original bill.

You might try for a court order requiring the landlord to make the repair, or you might decide to sue the landlord for rent that you paid for uninhabitable portion of your unit after the landlord knew of the breach of the warranty of habitability. Violations of the housing code that a county inspector found serious enough could give you the option of being protected by the Rent Withholding Act, but the remedies from the breach of the implied warranty usually are more comprehensive, making them more helpful.

Two final options merit mention. If a place is completely uninhabitable, then you could give notice to the landlord and move. This is risky because the landlord may sue you for breaking your lease. As mentioned before, this is why you need evidence that you should begin collecting when you have reason to believe at least some of the rental unit is uninhabitable for safety or health reasons. Photos and witnesses can help you make your case. Copies of all correspondence with the landlord about the problem should be saved as well. Proof that the landlord did not make the necessary repairs within a reasonable time also is important.

In addition, having estimates from a professional regarding the cost of the repairs can be useful as well. If you have to go to a hearing, you should ask whether the person who gave the estimate is willing to attend. She or he may not come for any number of reasons, but there is no harm in asking.

The last option to be discussed here is similar to the Rent Withholding Act’s escrow account for certain housing code violations but is a more flexible remedy for most tenants: rent abatement, in which at least a portion of the rent is placed into a separate financial account until the situation is resolved. You could attempt to estimate the portion of your residence that was not habitable and put this part of the monthly rent into the account while you take action to get the problem cleared up. You could place all rent into the account – if you do, do not touch these funds until the inevitable lawsuit is finished since you may have to pay at least some of this money to the landlord depending on the case’s outcome.

Just remember that the implied warranty of habitability always protects you in a residential lease situation, no matter what the landlord says or tries to do. Use it when you have a good reason to do so but also remember that it only applies to serious problems and not, for example, to a faucet that leaks a little. When it does apply, it can be a powerful tool providing powerful options against a bad landlord. However, you should be careful that a court is likely to see a habitability issue before you do anything. For this reason, you should consider consulting with an attorney before you act.

Habitability & Residential Leases, Pt 1

Alberts Law, Topics of Interest, ,

In Pennsylvania, whenever you rent a residence – whether it is an apartment, a house, or even a mobile home – you are protected by an implied warranty of habitability. The lease can be in writing or it can be a verbal agreement – the warranty will exist. Furthermore, your landlord cannot get you to waive this right in a residential lease because it automatically exists even if it is not expressed in the lease or a landlord expressly attempts to get rid of it. It protects you, as the tenant, from being forced to live in a place that is not safe, sanitary, and healthy. This is a powerful weapon against so-called slumlords, but, like all weapons, you must understand its purpose and how to use it for it to be useful.

The implied warranty of habitability was established by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the case of Pugh v. Hughes in 1978, and it is through court decisions that its meaning has developed. The basic idea is that a lease is a contract, which provides obligations for landlords and tenants. A tenant is supposed to pay rent, and this action requires the landlord to provide a safe and healthy place in which the tenant lives. If either party to the lease fails to live up to her or his obligation, then the other party cannot be forced to do what would be required here – these are considered to be mutual obligations because the failure of one to live up to the responsibility relieves the other of his or her obligation.

The idea sounds straightforward but becomes more complicated as you look at the details that come along with it. Tenants who do not pay their rent face eviction. Landlords who do not make repairs do not necessarily breach their obligation to provide a habitable residence for their tenants. Habitability goes to the ability to live in a place without some type of danger to the welfare of tenants due to the condition, which was under the landlord’s control. In other words, if you caused the problem that made the condition of your residence (or some part of it) a danger to safety or health, then you cannot blame the landlord for breaching the implied warranty.

Habitability refers to livability. Examples of conditions that can prevent a place from being livable include a lack of running water, the absence of heat in the winter, the presence of rats or cockroaches, and a leak in your ceiling. However, you must keep in mind that habitability is not an all-or-nothing thing. A ceiling leak that leaves the bedroom unusable does not necessarily make the rest of an apartment or house unlivable. As we will see later, this is a factor that can affect your options when you deal with the landlord and, potentially, with the legal system.

If at least part of your residence cannot be used due to the landlord’s lack of upkeep while you have remained current with your rent payments, you are in position to move forward with enforcing the implied warranty. At the same time, you must be sure not to move to soon in implementing one of the options that a breach of the warranty would provide – there are steps to take in order to protect yourself from an action by the landlord, such as eviction, while you act to protect your rights.

When you decide that the place that you rent has some area that is not habitable due to conditions like the examples listed earlier and that the landlord is at fault, you need to do what you can to protect yourself from the landlord blaming you. You want to have evidence that the problem exists, which becomes particularly important if you end up in the legal system by your choice or your landlord’s choice. Evidence can be in the form of photos, for example. Having witnesses who would be willing to describe what they have seen also can be beneficial. You could have an inspector from the county check for housing code violations. Whether or not you take actions like these before the next step really is up to you, but you definitely would work on these and other actions if you are headed toward the legal system. The step that you must take before you pursue any options is notifying the landlord so we will look at this prior to considering your remedies and other matters in the second part of this post.