Walk It Through: The Leaky Ceiling
Covenants no lease can waive, rent escrow after 14 days, and a way out after violence.
Water drips through a renter's bedroom ceiling every time it rains, and the landlord does not come to fix it.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One apartment and one leak. Code violation escrow, heat requirements, and energy efficiency are not worked through here.
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.
- Covenants of habitabilityThe promises the landlord makes in every residential lease: premises fit for the intended use, in reasonable repair, in compliance with health and safety laws, with heat of at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit from October 1 through April 30.
- Damage depositThe deposit a landlord returns with interest, or explains in a written statement of the specific reason for keeping any part, within three weeks after the tenancy ends and the landlord receives the tenant's mailing address.
- Rent escrowDepositing the rent due with the court administrator, with an affidavit, once written notice of a violation has gone 14 days uncorrected.
- RetaliationAn eviction, a raised obligation or a cut service imposed as a penalty for a tenant's good faith complaint of a violation or attempt to enforce rights.