Walk It Through: The Furnace in January
A furnace that quits, a certified letter, a repair bill, and a rent increase that follows the complaint.
The furnace quits. The repair the lease requires would cost less than half a month's rent.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
A single repair under the dollar limit in a residential lease. A larger repair, a building with code violations reported to the city, and an eviction filed in retaliation are left to the pages.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- RetaliationA landlord knowingly ending a tenancy, raising rent, cutting services, or suing for possession because the tenant in good faith complained or exercised a right.
- Repair and deductA tenant's right, after 14 days' written notice, to have a required repair made and deduct the paid bill from rent, where it costs no more than the lesser of $500 or half a month's rent.