Freezing in Georgia

[threedogs]

State is Georgia.

We turned on our central heat for the first time this year last Friday, Nov. 10. The vents just blew cold air...no heat. Called landlord Saturday morning to please do something about the heater.

Landlord sent serviceman Monday, November 13. Serviceman says he will return Thursday 11/16 with new part for the heating system. It is now 3:00 p.m. Thursday and the serviceman has not shown-up.

Meanwhile...lows have been in the 40's...the only source of heat we have is an electric blanket.

Can we legally purchase space heaters and deduct the cost from our next month's rent?

Thanks.

[LegalBeagle]

Call the L or the serviceman direct.

[threedogs]

Thanks, I've done that....my question was, is it legal for me to purchase space heaters and deduct the cost from our rent?

The landlord and serviceman both say thay are fixing the problem as fast as they can get to it. Meanwhile, I'm freezing. I will go purchase space heaters if I can get it deducted from our rent.

Thanks.

Not an attorney but am a landlord. I doubt that you can make the cost of temporary heat deducted from the rent stick. The justice department usually gives credit that the landlord hired an independant repair man to repair the problem. Usually a time frame of 5 days is considered as acceptable for first diagnosis. If parts must be ordered then the defense is obtaining those parts are out of their control and they will repair the problem as soon as those parts come in. Tough spot for you to be in but usually the case in this situation. In my state involving rental laws, if the repairs are still not done in a reasonable amount of time, and who knows what that is, you can order the repairs done yourself then deduct the cost of those repairs as long as the cost does not exceed $100. I doubt you could force the deduction from your rent the cost of temporary heat though.

Good Luck

Wg