Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in District of Columbia
Twice in the past month my Central AC has stopped performing efficiently. The unit will still circulate air, but the air is not cooled. Under my lease, the management office is required to maintain certain aspects of the apartments, including the AC units.
The first time the air stopped cooling, the management office sent out a repairman three times in one week. The first time, the repairman said there was no problem and did not do anything. The second time, he lowered the amount of refrigerant (which caused the AC to stop working entirely). The third time, he added new refrigerant and the unit began cooling again.
Two weeks after this, the unit stopped cooling again.
Under what circumstances may I "repair and deduct"? The repair company and management office are seemingly trying to use shortcuts in order to reduce their expenses. Meanwhile, I can't sleep at night due to the heat and I'm tired of begging my management office to fix the AC. Can I call a repair company and deduct the cost of their services from my rent?
1 Answer from Attorneys
In Maryland, a tenant is not permitted to make repairs and deduct the cost from the rent without prior permission from the landlord. The only exception I'm aware of is in Baltimore City where such repair-and deduct may be allowed under emergency circumstances, and lack of A/C is not an emergency situation. The tenant who attempts to repair and deduct costs from the rent risks eviction for non-payment of rent. I would not call a repair company to fix the A/C unless you are willing to get stuck with the cost.
You may want to consider the following course of action:
1.) Draft a POLITE written letter to the management office, explaining that: (i) you have reported ongoing problems with your A/C to the management office on several occasions, (ii) the problem has not been fixed and the hot weather isn't going away any time soon, (iii) section ________ of your lease states "it is the landlord's responsibility to repair and maintain the A/C units", and (iv) if the problem is not fixed within 7 business days from receipt of the letter, you may be forced to take legal action due to the management company's continued breach of contract.
2.) If that doesn't get the A/C problem fixed, I may consider hiring a Maryland attorney to take further action on your behalf. That attorney will want to you see and use your written letter to the management company, so please keep it professional when you write it!
Best regards.
This above does not establish an attorney-client relationship and is instead intended for informational purposes only.
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