Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Repair and deduct is only permitted for repairs that are required for "habitability" issues, not convenience issues like a dishwasher. The tenant is only required to return the premises to their original condition "less normal wear and tear." If the dishwasher was at the end of its useful life, the tenant has no responsibility to restore or replace it at the end of the lease, so that is not an issue. So the landlord is free to remove the dead appliance and add cabinet space. The one legal issue I see, however, is if you are on a lease that has any meaningful amount of time left on it. An apartment without a dishwasher is pretty inconvenient, and presumably would rent for less than the same apartment with a dishwasher. A lot of people, myself included, would not rent a unit with no dishwasher in this day and age. So you do have a reasonable case to be made that failure to keep a working dishwasher in the unit is a breach of an implied duty that the landlord also keep the premises in essentially the same working order as when rented (unless the tenant causes the problem). So if you want to get into it with the landlord, you could take them to small claims court for the difference between what the unit would lease for without a dishwasher, and what you are paying.