landlord/tenant

[gloriar]

Here's my situation. Sometime in November 2009 my heating went out. The house has central heating and air conditoning. I called my Landlord on a Friday and he wasn't able to get a repair person to me until Monday. On this particular weekend the temperatures were in the mid to low 20's. Very cold for Merced, California. I had to take time off from work to let the repairman in and do his initial assessment. As a result it was the motor to the unit which is located on the roof. It was something very simple and all that needed doing was for the repair man to turn the motor and it started right up. The repairman informed myself and the landlord that the motor was eventually going to malfunction again and would need replacing not repair. Also because there was no model number or serial number on the current motor, it would have to be removed and taken in to be matched so a new motor could be purchased. The motor was not replaced at that time so here I am on Friday, January 22, 2010 home sick when the unit goes out again. I called the landlord that afternoon and he said he would contact the repairman. I received no call or visit from a repair person that day so the following Saturday Jan. 23. 2010 at 1:30p.m. I call the landlord and inform him that no one has come nor called about the heating. The landlord makes a call again and within 10 minutes I recieve a call from the repair man. He informs me he can't do anything until the following Monday Jan. 25, 2010. He shows up on Monday the 25th and pulls the motor. Now here I sit with my teenage son in a cold house for 11 days without any heat. I get no calls from my landlord to inquire what's taking place or if I need anything or if I could use anything to help keep us warm inside. The reason for delays is that the wrong motor was ordered and it takes a couple of days to be delivered anyway. So actually a motor had to be ordered twice. Am I entitled to any compensation for my hardship and for the money I spent in trying to keep some kind of heat in my house. I was only able to buy firewood for a couple of days due to being short on money. Can you tell me what I can do here. My landlord has not mentioned anything to me at all about the hardship, as a matter of fact he asked me if I was jinxed. Please Help!!!

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

You can certainly ask your landlord for some type of compensation. Although it appears it was the fault of either 1. the repairman or 2. the company that ships these things.

I keep some oil radiators around that I lend to my tenants in case of an emergency (which always seems to happen on a weekend when the repairman isn't available).

Gail

 

[gloriar]

Thank you Gail,
Quick question, Shouldn't he have done something sooner before the motor went out again?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Perhaps, although there was no law that said he must.

Gail