Walk It Through: The Leaky Ceiling
Necessary repairs, rent that abates, and a recovery reduced by rerenting.
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 disclosure, periodic tenancies, and accepted surrenders 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.
- Security depositThe deposit a landlord delivers or mails back in full, less only what the statute allows to be withheld, within 21 days, counted from the day that fits how the tenancy ended.
- UntenantableUnfit to live in from fire, water or other casualty, a condition hazardous to health, or a substantial violation of the landlord's duties. The tenant may move out unless the landlord promptly repairs, and a tenant who stays pays reduced rent.
- MitigationA landlord's recovery from a tenant who left early is reduced by the net rent obtainable by reasonable efforts to rerent.