What can I do if my landlord won’t make needed repairs?
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What can I do if my landlord won’t make needed repairs?
I live in NC and my landlord won’t fix A.) My A/C unit (I have 3 very small children) and my garage roof. The roof ceiling was actually made out of sheetrock and just hammered in. Also, the garage has numerous open wires. I’ve contacted them 4 times and they just tell me their vendor will be here sometime. Everytime the vendor doesn’t show up I call and tell them but they just keep saying he’ll be out. It’s been over a month for the A/C and 15 days since I first notified them of the roofing. What can I do?
Asked on July 16, 2011 under Real Estate Law, North Carolina
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
First read your written lease/rental agreement if you have one with th landlord to see if it has language about repair obligations. If not, many States in this country have laws requiring a landlord to provide safe and habitable conditions to a tenant. Most likely your has a law like this.
You could write a letter to your landlord asking that he make the needed repairs and if he does not do so within a reasonable time, you might want to contact the building department's code compliance department about the situation and have a code compliance person with the entity come to the unit and make the inspection. If the unit has the problems you say it does, a citation most likely will be issued to the landlord where he has to get the repairs made in a set time and if not, he/she would be subject to monetary penalties.
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