Must my lanlord pay for a hotel during miserable heat?

July 5, 2007 6:00 PM

Due to a yet-to-be-correctly-diagnosed problem with the electrical system in our house, our air conditioner does not work. This is a Big Deal in Central California right now. Can we reasonably expect our lanlord to pay for a hotel for us?

Our lights started flickering when major appliances kicked in and our air conditioner compressor wouldn't work. After our lanlord replaced the AC unit, nothing changed. Our lanlord is telling us now that it could be up to 5 days before the city comes out to turn the electricity off so that his electrician can diagnose the problem.

It's now 95 degrees inside our house. Fans only do so much. Our dogs are panting constantly and we are uncomfortable. My former dealings with our lanlord lead me to believe that if I asked him to put us up in a hotel until this issue was resolved, he would say "No". I pay money every month to be sheltered from the elements and we are not sheltered from the heat

posted by bryanzera to law & government (9 comments total)

Err, don't you have circuit breakers? That's how to shut off the power to the A/C... It's probably one of the switches where two switches are barred together into one.

But perhaps the problem is speculated to be in the breaker box. In that case, yes, the city will have to shut off your power.

My recommendation: purchase the smallest size window A/C unit for your bedroom. Install. Plug in. Use. (Close the bedroom door.) Sleep well. When the house A/C is working, sell it on craigslist for 75% of what you paid for it.

I'm afraid there's no particular tenant laws or standard for being too warm - not that I'm aware of, anyway. And from your question, the landlord appears to be acting quickly to resolve the problem. I don't think he has any obligation to pay for a hotel for you. If you get a window A/C unit and then sell it, you'll be out less than $100 when this is all over.
posted by jellicle at 6:17 PM on July 5, 2007

see if you can get him to cover the rental of some portable AC units. equipment rental places have them sometimes. I don't see anybody in Fresno at first Google but I'm sure you can find one.
posted by Megafly at 6:47 PM on July 5, 2007

Landlords don't need to do anything but (a) follow the law, and (b) follow the conditions of your lease. I can't imagine a landlord agreeing to put you up in alternate accommodations (like the equivalent of a loaner car) for a few days just out of the goodness of his/her heart... but you might want to head for a hotel or a friend's guest room anyway, on your own dime, just for your sanity and your dogs' happiness.
posted by nkknkk at 6:48 PM on July 5, 2007

One better: Buy it at WalMart and take it back w/i 30 days and get 100% back.

There's a lot of potential causes for this problem, what's especially spooky is if it REALLY just started, it's not just that you just noticed it now that the A/C is supposed to run 20 hours a day. That could indicate a short or an in-wall power issue, a power supply to the box issue, or whatever.

If it's anything INSIDE the house, the box will have a master shutoff to power down the house, as will the hvac setup. It'll be a big pull down blade switch by the unit. Of course, the problem isn't in the a/c...

I'm a little less than sad for you though, it's been just that hot here too and crazy stupid humid...and we've been doing things like moving block.
posted by TomMelee at 6:49 PM on July 5, 2007

My father-not-in-law owned a property in Bakersfield in which this happened. We were on a vacation with him at the time, I think. He didn't get it fixed for a couple days, and then the tenant announced in VM that she'd be taking her small children to a hotel to sleep and charging it to him. I don't know if he paid it or not. I really doubt that. I do know that it was done, and that I was angry at him for scoffing at the gravity of Bakersfield at 110 degrees. I've lived there. I used to keep the sink full of water so I could submerge my head upon arriving home from school.

However, you would be better off paying for the hotel yourself and charging him the fee for the repair of the problem which you fix ASAP. Call him immediately to tell him you must do that.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 6:57 PM on July 5, 2007

Waiting for the city to shut off the power seems a bit strange to me. Unless the breaker box has some serious flaws, the electrician should be able to work on it without the power company being involved. Electricians are usually very skilled at working with live wires.
posted by kiltedtaco at 7:44 PM on July 5, 2007

I just had a similar A/C breakdown problem at some of my units last week. Especially one unit where a very old lady kept complaining that the repairs the AC-man did, did not work. I didn't know what to do except of asking him to come back, a total of maybe 4 times (which took maybe 4-5 days).
If you were the tenant and said, I'm going to Walmart & buy a portable unit or fan, and I want you to pay for it until the permanent one is fixed, I would be glad to do so
posted by growabrain at 8:42 PM on July 5, 2007

Our landlord is telling us now that it could be up to 5 days before the city comes out to turn the electricity off so that his electrician can diagnose the problem.

That's out and out horseshit. No electrician needs to wait for the city to do anything. This is why breakers, switches and fuse boxes were invented.

Can we reasonably expect our landlord to pay for a hotel for us?

YMMV, but you should be aware of the laws when it comes to when a dwelling is considered untenantable.

1941.1. A dwelling shall be deemed untenantable for purposes of Section 1941 if it substantially lacks any of the following ...

(d) Heating facilities that conformed with applicable law at the time of installation, maintained in good working order.
(e) Electrical lighting, with wiring and electrical equipment that conformed with applicable law at the time of installation, maintained in good working order.

This site can help you find the solution.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:48 PM on July 5, 2007

California Tenant Rights as explained by a lawyer that offers lots of free advice and sells kits of forms.

That site pretty squarely follows the advice given in http://www.nolo.com/product.cfm/ObjectID/1A3B8DEF-78AA-460B-A48F614FE5E1A794/104/">California Tenant's Rights by Nolo press (a book I highly recommend to California renters.
posted by fief at 9:44 PM on July 5, 2007