Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Texas

Who is responsible?

We leased a house, the central heat/air unit was the main reason we wanted to lease this house. About a month after we moved in the AC unit stopped working, then when winter came the furnace worked for apx 2 weeks then quit. The landlord will not fix it, in the lease it says ''Major maintenance and repair of the leased premises, not due to Lessee's misuse, waste, or neglect shall be the responsibility of the Lessor.'' Then on the last page of the lease the lanlord wrote in ''All maintenance or replacement will be at Lessee's expense including appliances, any part of structure, water lines, electrical wiring, gas lines, AC.'' First, the replacing/fixing the furnance would be considered a Major repair, right? And that she said AC instead of AC/Heat unit would suggest that she won't fix the AC unit, but could we make her fix the furnace? I run a home daycare from this home, and only agreed to pay the high rent because of the central heat and air unit, which neither are in working order now. What do I do? Can I make her fix either one? Or could we get the rent lowered, it is way to much for this area w/out having the ac/heat unit. Thanks a bunch for any info you can give us.


Asked on 1/16/07, 8:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Sharon Campbell Sharon K. Campbell

Re: Who is responsible?

Per the property code, the landlord is responsible, but sounds like you might have to sue him. Be sure and make written demands for the repair. You might try calling Code Enforcement. They will make them make the repairs ASAP or impose fines on them.

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Answered on 1/16/07, 8:17 pm


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