If I rent a room, is the landlord legally allowed to restrict access from the thermostat for days at a time?

Question

I rent one room out of a house; there is one other room that is rented out. My roommate and I feel the same way – we should have access over the temperature in the home. The landlord has placed a door with a key lock on it restricting all access to the bottom level of the house. He maintains a bedroom there, but comes home maybe once or twice a week. Are there any legal restrictions to this?

I live in Florida - it is not the heat that I need on a regular basis. Lately the tempatures have been going from Highs in the low 90's to high's in the low 50's. I don't have the ability to switch from air to heat and vise versa. Also I have a three year old who has asthma. I need to be able to regulate his environment.

Answer 1

Check out the site below, make sure to change the location/state in which you reside. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

There is a legal minimum temperature which your landlord will be responsible for ensuring the property doesn't fall below. If you have no control over the temperature then it's his responsibility to ensure the minimum temperature is met and that environmental conditions (heat, humidity etc) are within agreed limits.

Don't know what the exact figures are - it's 16 Centigrade for a work place but residential could vary.

Why are you denied access, is it because he pays the bills and is trying to keep them down?

If the mimumim temperature is maintained and the situation was pointed out to you before taking the tenancy (either verbally or in writing) then there will be no legal resrictions.

It's not a good situation to be in - speak to your landlord, ask about the possibility of individual thermostats for each room. Maybe come to some bill sharing agreement.

If he's not meeting his legal obligations then contact a welfare or housing officer.

Answer 3

So what's the problem? Get yourself a small electric space heater & use it. Keep your mouth shut about it & don't let him find it in your room. Don't run it on high or you could blow the circuit breaker. If you only have a room, them it should take about an hour to get the temperature to a comfy level. Keep your doors & windows closed & don't tell anyone about having a heater. I just purchased one at Home Depot for $25 & it fits in my backpack & is designed to be safer than the older models of electric space heaters. If you don't like it, then move out, because you are in his home & he controls his controls, so get your own control going when he isn't there. He sounds like an idiot & so are you if you can't get over on this jerk. Report him if you want to, but you'll probably get thrown out for doing it.

Answer 4

I am not certain that this is legal. This may constitute an unsafe living environment. I don't think your landlord is probably doing anything that is terrible, like shutting the furnace off before he leaves or turning it down to like 55 degrees, but there are other safety concerns. If there were a gas leak, unsafe CO2 levels, or some other problem that required you to shut off the furnace, you would not have access to it. I would talk to your landlord first and explain your concerns.

Answer 5

He is paying for the heat, therefore he can have sole control of the temperature.
I believe that the landlord must keep the temperature no lower than 70*. If he is keeping it colder than that, you can complain. You could ask if it would be possible to turn the heat up a little.

Answer 6

Yes he can because you are only renting the room, ''BUT'' He must keep the temp at a comfortable level (68-72 degrees Fahrenheit)

(Off the record, get yourself a small micro furnace for your room if you think that you need more heat but keep them in your rooms at low speed and turn them off when you leave the house)

Answer 7

In most places, he's absolutely within his rights. It sounds like what he is doing is completely normal. What he must do though, is maintain a reasonable temperature within the building. The definition of reasonable varies by a few degrees, depending on where you live. You should look up your local by-laws.

Answer 8

Not unless you agree to paay the electric bill or anyincreae over his average before you moved in. Most apartment owners do control their thermostat or heating/cooling when they also don't have individual meters for utililes.
I have a friend in California who has to go to bed early when it's very cold due to the temperture inside her Condo over which she had no control.

Don;t mention it but buy one of those small heaters from walmarts and use it in your room:):). It'll do the trick and doesn't burn much.

Answer 9

You are renting a room. As long as the temperature in your room is at a comfortable level you should not have a problem.

Answer 10

If it is the thermostat that controls the temperature of your apartment then you have to be allowed access to it. Consult a lawyer.