What should I do if the landlord has stopped providing an essential service such as water, heat, or air conditioning?

Communicate in Writing

You should state in writing what needs to be fixed and give a copy of that to your landlord in person or by certified mail with return receipt requested. If it truly an essential service, your written notice just needs to give the landlord a reasonable amount of time to fix it. For example fixing an air conditioner in the summer cannot be completed within a couple of hours, it may take days.

If you are renting your unit, your notice should state that your landlord has 10 days to make the repair.
If you are renting your unit and the needed repair affects your health and safety, the notice must only give the landlord 5 days to make the repair.
If an essential service, like heating, air conditioning/cooling, water, or hot water stops, you just need to give your landlord a reasonable amount of time to make the repairs.
If you own your mobile home and rent the space on which it sits, your notice should state that your landlord has 14 days to make the repair.
If you own your mobile home and rent the space on which it sits, and the needed repair affects your health and safety, your notice should state that your landlord has 10 days to make the repair.

Provide Proper Notice to the Landlord

After providing proper notice to your landlord, you may consider the following options:

If you rent your unit, you may calculate the reasonable costs of the essential service and deduct that amount from your rent.
- This option is only available in certain circumstances or with advanced, written, permission from your landlord. Seek legal advice before deciding to do this.
If you rent your unit, you may find substitute housing and deduct the cost of that housing from your rent.
- This option is only available in certain circumstances or with advanced, written, permission from your landlord. Seek legal advice before deciding to do this.
Your best option is to pay your rent and file a claim for your costs at a later date.

Please watch the video entitled "What Can a Tenant Do? My Landlord Is Not Following the Lease" for more information about possible options for residential, mobile home, and RV tenants.