Walk It Through: The Tenant's Assertion
No heat, rent paid into court, a retaliation question, and a lockout petition.
January. The heat stops working, and the landlord does not fix it.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One winter in one rental. The new versions of the escrow and retaliation sections that take effect later, the 21 day notice to end a lease over a breach, and the eviction case 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.
- RetaliationA landlord's raising rent, reducing services, or suing or threatening to sue for possession after learning that the tenant complained to a code agency, complained or sued under the landlord and tenant law, joined a tenant organization, or testified against the landlord.
- Tenant's assertionA filing in the general district court over a condition such as no heat or running water, by a tenant who gave the landlord written notice and pays the rent into court within five days of each due date.
- Security depositA deposit of no more than two months' periodic rent, applied at the end of the tenancy only to unpaid rent and late charges, damage beyond reasonable wear and tear, other charges in the agreement, and actual damages for breaking it.
- Unlawful exclusionA landlord's willfully, without court authority, removing or excluding the tenant, interrupting an essential service, or making the premises unsafe. The court can put the tenant back in and restore the service.