Upping the Ante: New Landlording Rules from SB 45

For those of you thinking of becoming landlords, the Governor just signed into law new rules regarding maintenance, repairs, and noticed of such.  The law creates a legal expectation of minimum living standards for tenants and repair guidelines expected of landlords when those living standards are not met. These are important changes that you need to follow in order to not be sued by your tenants. For those of you interested in reading the entire law, you can find it HERE.

Here is the gist:

A landlord is expected to provide a rental that is "safe, sanitary, and fit for human occupancy; and shall maintain common areas of the residential rental unit in a sanitary and safe condition".  He is also expected to "maintain electrical systems, plumbing, heating, and hot and cold water."  Interestingly, he also has to maintain any air conditioning system on the premises.  He must also maintain appliances and follow the lease agreement regarding repairs of anything else.

This sounds reasonable.  I think slumlords will be unhappy but legitimate landlords shouldn't have problems keeping up the condition of their rental units.

The law also provides a method for notice AND punishment to landlords who don't comply:

The tenant must give WRITTEN notice to the landlord of a deficient condition in the property.  Once the notice is served, the landlord has 3 days to correct a habitability condition or 10 days to correct a repair required by the lease agreement.  If the landlord does nothing, the tenant has a right to be refunded rent for the 10 day corrective period or to make the repair themselves and bill the landlord for actual expenses incurred.  If the tenant chooses rent abatement and no repairs are made, the lease is terminated and the landlord owes the tenant back rent to the date of the repair notice, his deposit, and he must give the tenant 10 days rent free to move out.  If the tenant chooses to repair the problem themselves they can deduct the expense from future rents so long as the amount does not exceed two months of rent.   He must show documentation of the repair however.

The tenant has the right to sue for performance of these refunds if the landlord fails to do so at his own discretion.  However, the tenant must follow the law strictly to qualify for these remedies.  Any variance from the requirements will void their claim.

I recently had a situation occur with a tenant that this law now addresses.  A couple months ago, my tenant told me that their refrigerator wasn't working very well.  This particular tenant had a knack for pointing out very minute imperfections in the apartment so I didn't take his statement about the refrigerator too seriously.  Then, this month he tells me that he intends to move because he can't trust me as a landlord and his family is in danger due to my negligence.  He brings in a bag of rotten food from his fridge to prove his point.  Clearly, the situation was more serious than I originally estimated.  I compensated him for his food, purchased a new fridge, and agreed to sever his lease according to the terms our our lease agreement.

This new law would have helped in this situation with my tenant since I would have received a written notice from the tenant. That notice would have served as a test of validity for the repair.  I wouldn't have to guess whether a supposed problem is a legitimate concern or just my tenant ranting.  Had I received a notice, I would have made the repair two months earlier, maintained a level of trust, and kept my tenants in their unit.