Tenant/Landlord Court Hearing?

Question

I have to go to court tomorrow for a dispute with my landlord.

The property that we rent from him is supposed to have central A/C the unit has been broken since we moved in (January). We addressed this with him in May and have tried to settle this amicably and given ample amount of time.

At the beginning of August we sent a letter stating that we take this as him breaking the lease and that we are withholding rent and would be out within 30 days.

We are now goign to court tomorrow because he is going after our rent money that we withheld. We have since filed a counter claim on why and what we want (our rent for the months we were without A/C)

Has anyone ever been in a situation like this before? What is there that I can expect? I'm nervous and hoping that this comes out in our favor. Any advice?

Answer 1

I have and depending on the state you CANNOT withhold rent. If you had known prior to this, you should have taken the money to your local county courthouse and opened an escrow account there. The courts would have notified your landlord of the monies being placed there until the situation was resolved. As it stands, it looks like he filed for an eviction and that will be public record for some time unless the judge is able to mediate something for you and you get a dismissal. because he IS entitled to the money.
So more than likely, the judge will order you to pay him the owed rent and try to mediate where he fixes the A/C and you don't get an eviction on your record
Good luck tomorrow.

Answer 2

Did you consult an attorney before sending him this letter? Did you pay first and last when you moved in? If you did pay first and last then he could just apply that to the last 30 days. You should have consulted an attorney about witholding the rent, because I believe if you do that it is supposed to go into an escro (sp?) account and be held until the problem is resolved. The court will probably make you pay the last months rent, but they may at the same time make your landlord reimburse you for part of your rent for all those months that your A/C was not working properly. Good luck with this, and keep us posted!!

Answer 3

You cannot legally withheld rent, and AIR conditioning, although inconvenient not to have is not a necessity and not having it is a pin, however does not make the premises unlivable.

If having functioning A/C was not included in your rental agreement you do not have a leg to stand on.

I have encountered similar situations, when my bathroom wall caved in to do water damage from the unit upstairs, in that instance however the unit was unlivable and unsanitary. In that instance I was allowed a refund of rent, as well as an early termination of the rental agreement. In the same unit however I was without a dishwasher and stove for a number of months, and although inconvenient, not grounds for termination, or withholding of rent.

Answer 4

Stick up for yourself in court. I don't know what the law says, but you are not getting what you are paying for. He wouldn't go to court if you paid him each month. I hope the judge slams him with a fine. I hope you post on here what happens. I'd like to know. Good luck. Tell the judge it's not healthy to live without A/C. Plus, it's part of the house to be working. Think ahead what you are going to say. The man hasn't fixed the A/C with the rent. So, you had to stop paying. What else could you do. Stand your ground.