AC broke in my rental home

[luger66]

What is the name of your state? Florida

I am renting a home and the rental agreement states:

Landlord agrees to keep in good repair and condition the foundations, air conditioning and heating systems (except as caused by Tenant's failure to change filters monthly), plumbing and electrical systems, of the leased Premises.



The AC broke a week ago. When I informed this to landlord, the landlord quickly informed me that she called a servicing company with whom she has service agreement and that company will come in 20 days from now (and forwarded me the response she received from that service company) but that service company will come early if the service company finds any cancellations from other customers in between. She also promised me that she is talking to other AC companies but they are also taking more time to come and visit, but will bring if she finds any quickly. She is referring to Covid for delays.



Also, the landlord informed that I need not pay any rent for the days the AC is not working.



What are my choices? What about filing a lawsuit?

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state? Florida

I am renting a home and the rental agreement states:

Landlord agrees to keep in good repair and condition the foundations, air conditioning and heating systems (except as caused by Tenant's failure to change filters monthly), plumbing and electrical systems, of the leased Premises.



The AC broke a week ago. When I informed this to landlord, the landlord quickly informed me that she called a servicing company with whom she has service agreement and that company will come in 20 days from now (and forwarded me the response she received from that service company) but that service company will come early if the service company finds any cancellations from other customers in between. She also promised me that she is talking to other AC companies but they are also taking more time to come and visit, but will bring if she finds any quickly. She is referring to Covid for delays.



Also, the landlord informed that I need not pay any rent for the days the AC is not working.



What are my choices? What about filing a lawsuit?

Huh? A lawsuit for what? LL is doing everything s/he can do to get someone in there to fix it. LL is not charging rent for that period of time that the AC is out which, by the way, they do not have to do.

I suggest you read the Florida LL/Tenant law and then say a big Thank You to your landlord for going well beyond the statutory obligation.

 

[STEPHAN]

Buy a window unit from the rent saved.

(Or PM me if you are close to Pinellas County. I always have a few here for exactly that case.)

 

[luger66]

Thanks a million.

Forgive me for my mistakes in my previous email (I was in a rush and simply referred it as my home which is also rented):



The issue I am reporting is nonresidential tenancies: it is a commercial office space where I am running a small business (I am not living there and it is not a residential property). At http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0000-0099/0083/0083PARTIContentsIndex.html, I read:

 

“83.201Notice to landlord of failure to maintain or repair, rendering premises wholly untenantable; right to withhold rent.—When the lease is silent on the procedure to be followed to effect repair or maintenance and the payment of rent relating thereto, yet affirmatively and expressly places the obligation for same upon the landlord, and the landlord has failed or refused to do so, rendering the leased premises wholly untenantable, the tenant may withhold rent after notice to the landlord. The tenant shall serve the landlord, in the manner prescribed by s. 83.20(3), with a written notice declaring the premises to be wholly untenantable, giving the landlord at least 20 days to make the specifically described repair or maintenance, and stating that the tenant will withhold the rent for the next rental period and thereafter until the repair or maintenance has been performed. The lease may provide for a longer period of time for repair or maintenance. Once the landlord has completed the repair or maintenance, the tenant shall pay the landlord the amounts of rent withheld. If the landlord does not complete the repair or maintenance in the allotted time, the parties may extend the time by written agreement or the tenant may abandon the premises, retain the amounts of rent withheld, terminate the lease, and avoid any liability for future rent or charges under the lease. This section is cumulative to other existing remedies, and this section does not prevent any tenant from exercising his or her other remedies.”

Whether the above portion of law is the one applicable in my case?

What about the last sentence in the above quote: “This section is cumulative to other existing remedies, and this section does not prevent any tenant from exercising his or her other remedies.” Does it give me any additional advantage/options in the current situation?

 

[Ohiogal]

Your landlord has gone above and beyond. You need to just deal ... or not. But you get nothing.

 

[STEPHAN]

Call around, find an AC company that is available and ask the LL if he can use them.

 

[luger66]

Much appreciated.

In fact, I called a AC company (the owner is my friend) before I informed this AC failure to landlord and that company gave me $100 invoice for the visit and said it costs around $6000 to replace the AC unit (saying that the current AC unit it too old to repair). When I informed this matter to the landlord next day, she voluntarily agreed to pay me back that $100 invoice but did not invite that AC company to do replacement/repair work although landlord talked to that AC company directly: may be because the landlord has service agreement with another company which will come and do the AC unit repair/replacement almost for free, or thought $6000 is too much to pay to my friends’ company (the rent I am paying is $900 per month to landlord), or so, I don’t know the reason as, until now, the landlord did not explain me her plans.

Except for leaving the rental property (after following the procedures indicated in 83.201 http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0000-0099/0083/0083PARTIContentsIndex.html), do I have any other choice (i.e., winning in a court if I file a complaint) even if the landlord takes a month or more to get the AC fully fixed?

(as I mentioned earlier, the landlord will not charge me any rent for the days the AC is not working).

 

[reenzz]

The lack of water, electricity and heat would make the rental "untenatable". The lack of AC does not....not even in Florida.

 

[luger66]

Thanks. So, in my current situation, what choice I have, if the LL takes several weeks or even a month or more to fix the AC?

 

[Ohiogal]

Thanks. So, in my current situation, what choice I have, if the LL takes several weeks or even a month or more to fix the AC?

You can break the lease AND pay any penalties for doing so.

 

[STEPHAN]

How big is the AC? 6000 sounds a lot.

 

[adjusterjack]

What city? What was the temperature in your office today?

 

[adjusterjack]

You can break the lease AND pay any penalties for doing so.

Didn't you read the statute section that OP posted? The pertinent part:

If the landlord does not complete the repair or maintenance in the allotted time, the parties may extend the time by written agreement or the tenant may abandon the premises, retain the amounts of rent withheld, terminate the lease, and avoid any liability for future rent or charges under the lease.

 

[luger66]

The AC is 4 ton or so, I am not very sure. The property is near Quincy, FL. The temperature is around 86 in the office.

My question is: in my situation, apart from abandoning the premises, retain the amounts of rent withheld, terminate the lease, and avoid any liability for future rent or charges under the lease (all these are my very last option); do I have any other remedy? What if I file in the court for LL's failure to keep the AC in good repair and condition, as the lease agreement states? Is there any chance of winning in the court on this failure (or any other similar thing)? 83.201 states "This section is cumulative to other existing remedies, and this section does not prevent any tenant from exercising his or her other remedies.”

Again, the rental agreement states: "Landlord agrees to keep in good repair and condition the foundations, air conditioning and heating systems (except as caused by Tenant's failure to change filters monthly), plumbing and electrical systems, of the leased Premises. "


As you can see above 83.201 states: "When the lease is silent on the procedure to be followed to effect repair or maintenance and the payment of rent relating thereto, .." Please clarify if the lease I have with LL falls in this category?

 

[adjusterjack]

What if I file in the court for LL's failure to keep the AC in good repair and condition, as the lease agreement states? Is there any chance of winning in the court on this failure (or any other similar thing)?

Winning what?

What are your damages? Defined as:

"Monetary compensation that is awarded by a court in a civil action to an individual who has been injured through the wrongful conduct of another party."

https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/damages

What is the nature of your business? It's 86 degrees in your office? Can you bring in fans or a portable cooler?

Are you losing income by not being able to operate? Can you operate from home temporarily? 3/4 of the people in the US are currently working from home.

You may have an additional remedy in law but you also are required to mitigate your damages. Defined as:

"The use of reasonable care and diligence in an effort to minimize or avoid injury (or monetary loss)."

https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/mitigation+of+damages

In other words, if you can use fans or a portable cooler and you don't, or you can work from home and you don't, then you aren't likely to win any money if you sue for loss of income during the down time.