Walk It Through: Two Notices And A New Lock
A repair request, repair and deduct, retaliation, and a lock change for rent.
The water heater dies, and the rent is paid up.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One repair and one lock change. The waiting periods for repair and deduct that run on a local official's notice, the narrow cases where the repair duty is shifted to the tenant, and eviction suits 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.
- Eviction suitThe suit in the justice court for the precinct where the property is, through which a landlord recovers a home. The court decides who has the right to actual possession, not who owns the title.
- Justice courtThe court that hears small claims, with original jurisdiction of civil matters where the amount in controversy is not more than $20,000, not counting interest, and of eviction cases.
- Lock changeA landlord's changing the door locks on a tenant delinquent in rent, allowed only where the lease gives that right and written notice came first. The landlord must provide a key to the new lock at any hour, whether or not any rent is paid.
- Notice to vacateThe written notice a landlord gives before filing against a tenant who defaults or holds over: at least three days, unless the written lease or agreement sets a shorter or longer period. A tenant who keeps paying after a foreclosure sale, where the buyer does not continue the lease, gets at least 30 days.
- Writ of possessionThe order a landlord who wins an eviction is entitled to. It may not issue before the sixth day after the judgment unless a possession bond has been filed, and a sheriff or constable posts a written warning on the front door at least 24 hours before carrying it out.
- Normal wear and tearDeterioration that results from the intended use of a dwelling. A landlord may not keep any part of a deposit to cover it.
- Repair and deductThe tenant's remedy of having a condition repaired and deducting the cost from rent, once the landlord is liable. One of the notices says the tenant intends to repair, and the deduction in any month may not exceed one month's rent or $500, whichever is greater.
- RetaliationA landlord's filing an eviction except on the grounds the code allows, cutting services, raising the rent, ending the lease or depriving the tenant of the premises within six months after the tenant in good faith asked for repairs, used a remedy, complained to a code authority, or took part in a tenant organization.
- Security depositAny advance of money, other than a rental application deposit or an advance payment of rent, that is intended mainly to secure performance under a lease of a dwelling. The landlord refunds it on or before the 30th day after the tenant surrenders the premises.