Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
I am a renter in a home and on a 1 year lease which will be up in 4 months. The winter w just has the back of the house provides no heat. We did buy numerous heaters to try and help. Not a success. We spent most of our winter in the living room. Now the summer is here and we have a swamp cooler. Fresno has very HOT summers...as high as 115. The coolest the house gets during the day is 95 - 100. We offered to buy a window cooler but we have large crank out windows that we can't. The swamp cooler we gave is 25+ years old. The owner has serviced it and still no change. I have a 4 year old son w/ asthma that complains he cant breathe here in the house so most days were are forced to leave and find somewhere to stay cool. Can we give a 30 day notice due to unhealthy living conditions for my son or are we forced to stay? We need help?
2 Answers from Attorneys
If the house is uninhabitable because there is no heat or air condition/fans, contact your landlord in writing and tell him the house is uninhabitable, give them a reasonable time to make the repairs. If they do not, you may move out of the rental and sue the Landlord in small claims court for damages. You have basically been "constructively evicted" from the house because the Landlord has refused to make the repairs. You can also make a complaint to the Department of Health in your county. They will respond to your complaint.
Ms. Bayus' answer is not correct. Until the landlord has been cited by the authorities and has not remedied the situation, you have not been constructively evicted and if you move out you will have breached the lease, assuming you have one. You don't actually say. If you have a month-to-month tenancy, you are free to move out after 30-days notice. If you have a lease that runs out a longer time away than that, you have to get the landlord cited and he has to fail to repair, before you can legally break the lease.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
