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Broken Washing Machine Still Broken

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WuLabsWuTecH

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

Tl;dr: My lease states that my landlord is responsible for maintenance and repair of my washing machine. It has been broken for over a month, and while they have replaced parts and been out a few times, it is still not working. Right now, we are waiting for yet another part to arrive. What are my rights if this part still does not fix the problem (or if it doesn't get here by the end of the week, i'm getting fed up!)?

Backstory: On August 28th, I emailed my landlord about an issue with my washer leaving about ¼ of a tank of water in the basin after the cycle finished. On Aug 29th, they replied stating they were sending a maintenance tech out. The tech left a note stating that a new pump needed to be ordered. I was out of town, so I tried to keep in touch via email, but they never replied (the property manager at my apartment complex is notoriously bad about replying to emails). I emailed them on Sept 6th and again on the 9th with no response either time. On the 12th, I returned to a note stating that the pump was replaced (I don’t have the note in front of me, but it was dated the previous week).

On sept 21st, I once again tried to do laundry (yeah, I’m one of those people that do laundry in bulk, don’t judge!) with the same issue. Except this time, it wasn’t even finishing the cycle and left suds in the bucket. I ran a few more cycles, and sometimes it would finish (but still leave ¼ tank of water in the bottom) and other times, it would not finish and leave suds. I sent them another email and they replied stating that someone would be out “today or tomorrow” to look at it again. No one showed up either day so on Sept 25th (a Sunday) I sent them another email. The following day, I called about the issue again and tech was out the same day stating that a control board needed to be replaced and he would order one. I called the office every day that week asking for an ETA on the control board but no one had an answer other than every time stating that “It’s a special order, but I’ll check with the company and call you later today.” Every day they said they’d call “later today,” but every morning I had to call them to see if there were any updates.

On the 28th or 29th of September, I once again spoke with one of the property managers about the issue and stated that I heard water still below the basin when I shook it (I was wiping it down so the stagnant water didn’t start smelling but shook the basin when I was moving it and heard water). The tech came out and once again left a note that said it was a control board issue and we had to wait for that part to be replaced.

I’ve been without a washer now for more than a month, so I am wondering what my rights are in regards to getting this repaired. I think it helps my case that my lease explicitly states that the washer and dryer will be provided by the landlord and any repairs and maintenance are their responsibility.

I believe there was some mechanism that if the landlord didn’t fix an issue (that was part of the lease but didn’t make the place uninhabitable) within 30 days, I could send them some sort of 7 day notice stating that if repairs aren’t done by the end of the 7 days, I would seek to have it repaired myself and reduce my rent payment the following month by the amount of the repairs. I’m just not sure that applies in this case since they are making a good faith effort to make repairs, but it has just taken over a month because they have had to special order 2 parts.
What exactly are my rights here? What do I need to do to get my washer repaired? My hope is that sending them some sort of 7 day notice will light a fire under their butts and get it fixed because I would prefer not to have to take time off of work to wait for a washer repair guy to come out and look at my washer.

Thanks for any advice you guys have!
 


FarmerJ

Senior Member
STOP using email and Stop calling instead send to them a real written on paper letter telling them that the amount of time it is taking for the clothes washer to be repaired is no longer acceptable to you and a better choice on their part would be to just replace the machine or you wont have a problem using small claims court to ask for a rent reduction. Make extra copy staple copy to your certified mail receipt after you send it certified mail. You need to have a hard paper trail for repair issues or disputes with your LL in case you ever have to prove to a court that you communicated about a issue with the LL.
 

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