Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Maintenance Responsibility of Landlord

The fact is that there are no clear-cut laws regarding the maintenance of rental property.

Long ago, the tenant took property 'as is' and had 100% of the maintenance responsibility, come what may, unless the terms of the lease placed some affirmative burden on the landlord.

Later, courts began attaching an 'implied warranty of habitability' to residential leases. In other words, in renting you property as a residence, the landlord warranted that the property was habitable. That didn't mean spiffy.

We now have several provisions in the Civil Code. You may want to look at sections 1941 (including its subparts) and 1942 covering habitability and tenant-made repairs, respectively. Copies of the codes are available to the public at county law libraries and many general public libraries. Unfortunately, the law is very general and has to be interpreted in specific real-world situations.

Among the things the landlord is required to repair are non-working water supplies and leaking roofs. Landlords are not, contrary to popular belief, required to re-paint or re-carpet at any particular interval or state of wear.

Whether the things you mention are landlord obligations under the Civil Code is hard to say. If I were the landlord's attorney, I would advise him to do the repairs, not necessarily from legal obligation per se but as a matter of avoiding tenant self-help, dissatisfaction, and possible unsafe conditions (which could result in a lawsuit for personal injury).

I hope this is helpful.