Almost no hot water in apartment?

Question

Here's the deal. My downstairs bathroom had the hot water valve go bad in the tub on Wednesday. Bad enough it doesn't just leak but gushes hot water! So I called the super/landlord and she sent out the maintenance guy. A couple hours later, he said he can't fix it until Monday. Until then anytime I need hot water I have to turn on the valve to the hot water heater, then turn it off when I'm done. So here's the question, how much rent can I withhold? I attempted to get a hold of her several times to say she needs to get a real plumber to come out and fix it with no luck. Rent is due the 5th but I don't see why I should pay the full amount for the inconvienance!

Answer 1

One look at your picture, you might scare the landlord into letting you withold all of the rent! lol

Sorry, unless you cannot use the hot water at all, you cannot deduct much, if any at all. I would contact a lawyer to see what your rights are with this. From what I can see, it is an extra struggle, but your landlord has made arrangements to have it fixed. Your hot water is still usable. Sorry, I would drop this one.

Good Luck

Answer 2

The landlord responded to your maintenance call and is working on the problem. You cannot deduct any rent.
If you are paying for hot water and the next bill is higher than normal due to this extra hot water usage you might want to consider asking her if she will let you deduct the difference from your rent but as long as she is working on the problem and it is fixed in a reasonable amount of time you do not get a rent reduction.

Answer 3

You get to withhold NO rent for this 'inconvenience' since the landlord is making a reasonable and proper effort to remedy the problem.

Problems such as this crop up from time to time, and you are expected to live with it until it is repaired, as long as the repair is done in a timely fashion. Your situation is merely an inconvenience and does not consist of a health or safety hazard existing.