When is a Home Considered Uninhabitable
My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: California
My wife, two-year-old daughter, and I live in a single family rental home in California. Two weeks ago, we discovered a water leak in the kitchen that was determined to be a slab leak. We were told to move out and into a hotel, which we did. 9 days later we were told that the plumbing repairs were complete, the water damage was treated, and we were clear to move back in. The entire house had been re-piped through the attic and down the walls. We arrived to find numerous holes throughout the house in the drywall and a heat blower still drying a wall in the kitchen. The holes in the drywall were exposing the water pipes, electrical wires, cut copper piping, broken stucco with wire mesh protruding, exposed nails and drywall screws, and other hazards (not to mention the blower was a hazard in itself) not safe for a toddler to be exposed to. I photographed all the concerns and told the property manager that the house was unsafe and not habitable based on the conditions. He disagreed and told us that ultimately it's up to the owner of the house and I to come to a compromise regarding reimbursement for rent.
Since then, 8 more days have passed, and we were told that the drywall had been repaired (not painted). While driving back to the house to move back in, I received a phone call from the contractor who said that the drywall in the kitchen was "wet" and needed to be removed. He cut two large holes in the drywall and heat blowers were again installed to dry the water damage.
My question is this...We feel that we're being reasonable in our concerns about the safety for our daughter and our decision to not move back in until the repairs are completed and the hazards have been fixed or removed. We plan on asking for reimbursement for the days we were not living in the house, which is permited based on our lease agreement. The issue is going to be whether we were reasonable in not moving back in when the property manager said we could, prior to the drywall repairs. Are we being reasonable in our concerns about safety and do they meet the definition of uninhabitable conditions in case we end up in small claims court?
Re: Reasonable to Consider Uninhabitable
People with small children rehab entire sections of their home all the time, with the small children still present. I don't see the court being so agreeable.
Re: Reasonable to Consider Uninhabitable
Well first any advice you get on the internet is coming from anonymous internet posters so take it with a grain of salt. With that being said if you were not in the home you should not be paying rent unless they covered your hotel bill and even then the inconvenience of being out of your house might be covered, but we are only talking between 9-17 days depending on what a judge would think. Not sure what your entire rent is but I don't imagine half a month's rent is more than 3,000.
As for the habitability there is a legal doctrine known as the implied warranty of habitability that applies in these situations and you can obtain punitive damages through it, but it is quite difficult to win on. If you have evidence you can certainly try to win and having a toddler would probably help your case. However, this probably would only be a small claims issue. If there are multiple people in the same situation it may be possible to get a class action lawsuit, but you probably need 20 or more people in that apartment suffering the same harm.
Now in small claims court there is really no way to know what will happen and that is true in any court. The judge may think you are being hypersensitive he may think you are 100% correct no lawyer will ever say you are guaranteed anything. As for steps to take if you want to file it yourself you can and small claims court is not that burdensome just pay the filing fee and get notice. These will likely impact your relationship with the landlord though and although you do get some protections for blowing the whistle on this kind of thing if you are in a month to month lease he can probably get you out of there. You can speak to an attorney fairly easily if you wanted, but this is not that expensive a case there is the California bar website, this site, a really good one is legal match.com, and numerous other sites exist that match you with lawyers.
Hopefully all this gets resolved and you and your family can leave happily ever after wherever you end up. Good luck!
Re: When is a Home Considered Uninhabitable
Quote:
Quoting
swhite005
I photographed all the concerns and told the property manager that the house was unsafe and not habitable based on the conditions. He disagreed and told us that ultimately it's up to the owner of the house and I to come to a compromise regarding reimbursement for rent.
What happened when you talked to the owner?
Quote:
Quoting swhite005
Since then, 8 more days have passed, and we were told that the drywall had been repaired (not painted). While driving back to the house to move back in, I received a phone call from the contractor who said that the drywall in the kitchen was "wet" and needed to be removed. He cut two large holes in the drywall and heat blowers were again installed to dry the water damage.
Meaning how many more days? One? Two?
Quote:
Quoting swhite005
My question is this...We feel that we're being reasonable in our concerns about the safety for our daughter and our decision to not move back in until the repairs are completed and the hazards have been fixed or removed.
Have you sought an inspection by your local government to see if the premises are deemed habitable in their present state?
Quote:
Quoting swhite005
We plan on asking for reimbursement for the days we were not living in the house, which is permited based on our lease agreement.
I can't see the lease from here, but I expect that you're talking about a provision for a pro rata abatement for a period during which the home is not habitable. So again, seek that inspection and tell us what your landlord had to say.
Quote:
Quoting swhite005
The issue is going to be whether we were reasonable in not moving back in when the property manager said we could, prior to the drywall repairs.
You're talking about when this first happened, and when you were told to contact the landlord, or is this about the new issue in the kitchen?
Quote:
Quoting swhite005
Are we being reasonable in our concerns about safety and do they meet the definition of uninhabitable conditions in case we end up in small claims court?
Your concerns are understandable, but we are not in a position to assess habitability.