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Landlord won't fix hot water heater.

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vmbmslm

Junior Member
I live in California and the pilot light on the water heater for my apartment goes out every hour or so. I informed my landlord and he said he would take care of it. This was a month ago. Sometimes I am able to relight the pilot light, but other times it just doesn't work. Every time I call the landlord about the problem, he says that he's waiting for a part to be delivered. I simply cannot believe that this should have taken as long as it has, and since we have encountered other untruths from the landlord, I am led to believe that this issue is not going to be resolved anytime soon. What I want to know is if this is enough for me to break my lease, because this is just the latest thing in a long list of problems we have had with this building and this landlord.

Thanks,
Vincent
 


BL

Senior Member
I live in California and the pilot light on the water heater for my apartment goes out every hour or so. I informed my landlord and he said he would take care of it. This was a month ago. Sometimes I am able to relight the pilot light, but other times it just doesn't work. Every time I call the landlord about the problem, he says that he's waiting for a part to be delivered. I simply cannot believe that this should have taken as long as it has, and since we have encountered other untruths from the landlord, I am led to believe that this issue is not going to be resolved anytime soon. What I want to know is if this is enough for me to break my lease, because this is just the latest thing in a long list of problems we have had with this building and this landlord.

Thanks,
Vincent
Not unless you notify the LL in writing ( proof of receipt or that you sent the request ).

After written request give a few days , the call code inspections .

If he still won't fix it and you absolutely can not get the heater to work , you can claim " constructive eviction " as the reason you moved .

You must have proof it will not work and the LL refuses to fix it .

IE: written request and code enforcement report .

Again you must allow reasonable time ,which you have ( but still are able to get some hot water ) , but you must have proof by following the above .

And of course there is always repair and deduct after following the above .
 
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FarmerJ

Senior Member
Vince if you have a regular old fashion pilot light then your hot water heater has a thermal coupling that can be bought in any hardware store. When you write your LL the letter your going to send tell him/her that. Thermal couples are not hard to change BUT since this is rental I would not advise you to do it since you do not want to be responsible for any error in installing it ( gas leak). Make sure you send your complaint either in certified mail or confirmed mail delivery.
 

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