Imagine you come home from work in the middle of summer only to find that your AC isn’t working. So you make a frantic call to your landlord to complain about the situation. Unfortunately, they replied negatively, stating that they had repaired the HVAC system a few months ago.
Further, they can show negligence is the reason behind this issue. So you hang up the phone, livid, and threaten to sue. After all, it’s your right to enjoy air conditioning in a rental you pay for. This is where the implied warranty of habitability comes into play.
Your landlords need to ensure that the property to be rented meets the warranty criteria. In other words, the property needs to adhere to the compliance of basic standards and amenities of a rented property.
Also, the tenants need to understand the warranty and their rights.
What Is An Implied Warranty Of Habitability?
An implied warranty of habitability is a legal concept that ensures a rental property meets basic standards for safe and livable conditions.
In other words, it’s an expectation tenants have for a rental that landlords have to meet.
Your lease agreement doesn’t have to explicitly state that the house should have a hole-free roof or a working water heater. The nature of their importance already implies these conditions.
Landlord’s Responsibility Under The Implied Warranty Of Habitability
Maintaining the habitable condition of the property and meeting the health and safety standards for the property are the obligations of a landlord.
Further, the landlord has to ensure that basic services like water, heat, and electricity are available in the property. Also, they have to take care of the mandatory and necessary repair work.
Maintain The Structural Integrity Of The Building
Ensure all parts of your rental are always in good condition to avoid inconvenience to your tenants. As a landlord, one of your top priorities is to ensure your property is structurally sound. You have to take care of its roof and foundations.
Aside from making sure that your rental complies with the necessary building regulations, it also physically protects your investment from crawling critters and the elements.
A hole in your door could easily allow bats, squirrels, or rats to gain entry to your house. Likewise, a leaky roof can cause severe water damage. Water damage can lead to mold growth and compromise your home’s electrical systems.
Provide Essential Amenities
Comply with habitability standards by ensuring your tenants have essential amenities such as water, electricity, heating, cooling, and ventilation. The last thing any landlord wants is a disgruntled renter calling them about a broken heater.
Don’t wait for these vital systems to fail. It would be best to schedule routine maintenance for your plumbing, wiring, and HVAC systems.
It will limit the emergency calls you receive from unhappy tenants. Further, such a proactive approach can save you hundreds of dollars in repair.
Create A Sanitary Environment
Keep diseases and rodents at bay by maintaining a high standard of cleanliness in your rental. Landlords need to seek help from a responsible property manager in Philadelphia to maintain habitability standards in their rental, especially regarding sanitation.
As a result, it would be best to make sanitary facilities available for tenants to easily dispose of garbage. If your HOA has strict policies on where to put garbage cans and trash pickup days, remember to communicate this with your renters so they comply.
Additionally, you should leave cleaning instructions for furniture and fittings with specific instructions. This precaution gives tenants a better idea of how often and what products to use when cleaning, which can extend the lifespan of your furnishing.
Install Appropriate Safety Measures
Address any hazards that threaten your tenants’ safety quickly to avoid an accident. Aside from keeping the property clean, landlords are responsible for creating a safe living environment for their renters.
In other words, you have to promptly fix faulty wiring, repair broken steps, and replace dead batteries in your smoke detector. That’s why property managers recommend using a safety checklist during your inspections.
How Can Tenants Enforce Their Implied Warranty Of Habitability Rights?
When a landlord refuses to meet the implied warranty of habitability, a tenant can take action. As a tenant, you can withhold the rent until all the requirements are met.
Further, if any repair work is to be done on an emergency basis, you can pay for it for now. Later, deduct the amount from your rent.
Here is a detailed overview of how you will enforce your implied warranty of habitability.
Document Everything
Keep detailed records of any problem your rental has, including essential information such as date, description, and its immediate impact on the property’s habitability.
In addition, you can also include dated and time-stamped photos and videos to cover all bases. This approach gives you sufficient evidence for further actions you might want to take in the future, like filing a formal complaint or taking legal action.
Contact Your Landlord
With your evidence in hand, reach out to your landlord and request a formal inspection and repair. After all, compliance with landlord-tenant laws is important for habitability concerns, and most property owners would immediately schedule time out to hear your concerns and address the issues.
However, it would be best to reach out through the communication channel your landlord has set up for repair requests. The last thing you want is to send a complaint through a platform or website they’re not active on, leading to further delays in resolving the issue.
Also, remember to give the property owner a reasonable amount of time to address the problem and restore the property to top-notch condition.
Withhold Rent
Follow up on your complaints, and if it seems like your landlord is ignoring you or taking too long to fix the issue, you can withhold rent. However, this option should be one of your last resort as it also means violating your end of the rental agreement, which can result in unintended consequences.
So, to avoid late fee charges and the threat of eviction, organize and keep the repair bills, then deduct them from your rental payment. Still, it would be best to do so in compliance with your local real estate laws and after you’ve given your landlord sufficient notice.
Terminate Your Lease
Look for alternative housing if the issue persists. After making several attempts to communicate and multiple complaints, if your landlord is still unwilling to fix the issue, it may be time to terminate your lease.
After all, it would be unrealistic for the property manager to expect you to continue living without a functional HVAC system or leaking roof.
When a property doesn’t have the implied warranty of habitability, renters can move out and even seek relocation assistance.
Conclusion
Knowing your responsibilities as a landlord related to the implied warranty of habitability can help prevent conflicts with tenants.
After all, it’s perfectly reasonable for renters to expect their homes to be safe. It is your responsibility to keep the property in top-notch condition.
Otherwise, as a tenant, you can legally enforce your warranty rights. You can withhold rent or deduct the repair cost from your monthly rent. But remember to document everything and give your landlord sufficient notice to rectify the problem.
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