Poor Maintenance and Slumlord Litigation

IDo you have cockroaches? Bed bugs? Rodents? Do you have a leaky roof that the landlord won't fix? While many landlords are responsible and take good care of their properties, other landlords are only concerned about collecting as much money in rent as they can, while spending as little as possible on maintenance, letting their buildings rot away. This is not only unpleasant, it can create health and safety hazards for the tenants.

The law in California mandates that landlords take care of their properties. If they don’t, their properties are deemed to be “untenantable.” Here’s what the law says:

“The lessor of a building intended for the occupation of human beings must, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary, put it into a condition fit for such occupation, and repair all subsequent dilapidations thereof, which render it untenantable ....” (Civil Code § 1941)

That basically means that it's the apartment owner's legal duty to make repairs. What makes an apartment or a house “untenantable”? The law in California states that a property is untenantable if it “substantially lacks”

• Effective waterproofing and weather protection
• Plumbing maintained in good working order
• Hot and cold running water
• Heat
• Electrical lighting
• Building and grounds kept clean, sanitary, and free from garbage, rodents and vermin.
• Floors, stairways and railings maintained in good repair
• Clean garbage receptacles
• A locking mailbox

(See Civil Code § 1941.1)

A rental unit may also be untenantable if it has lead paint, (Health & Safety Code § 17920.10), or if it has inadequate sanitation, no kitchen sink, no hot water, inadequate heat, improper ventilation, improper room and space dimensions, no electrical lighting, damp rooms, general dilapidation, no sewage disposal system, deteriorated foundations or floors, buckling walls, sagging ceilings, improper wiring, broken mechanical equipment, crumbling plaster, broken windows or doors, leaks, or an accumulation of weeds, junk, dead organic matter or garbage.

A tenant should not have to pay rent to live in an untenantable building! You may be able to sue your landlord for back rent if your home has any of the problems listed above. If these types of problems are pervasive in your apartment building, you may be able join together with other tenants to force the landlord to return the rent and make repairs.