California law requires residential rental units to comply with the implied warranty of habitability at all times. California Civil Code § 1941.  The property owner and property manager cannot force the tenant to waive the implied warranty of habitability.  California Civil Code § 1942.1.  This includes sanitary fixtures such as operable toilets, sinks, and shower drains.  Smith v. David, (1981) 120 Cal. App. 3d 101, 106.  Thus, property owners and property managers must ensure that residential rental unit sanitary fixtures are operable and maintained in good working order at all times during a tenant’s tenancy.

But, what about instances where a sanitary fixture, such as the only toilet in a rental unit toilet, is inoperable for only a few hours?   What constitutes an actionable breach of the implied warranty of habitability?  The law does not articulate the precise amount of time sanitary fixtures must be inoperable to constitute an actionable breach of the warranty of habitability.  Rather most of the case law relates to the degree of the habitability issue.  Green v. Superior Court (Sumski), (1974) 10 Cal. 3d 616, 637-638 (Breaches of the implied warranty of habitability must be substantial.); Hall v. Mun. Ct. (McGaskey), (1974) 10 Cal. 3d 641, 644 (The court determines whether breaches are substantial on a case-by-case basis.).  Presumably, the moment a sanitary fixture becomes inoperable in a substantial manner – overflow or total inoperability – the California tenant has a claim for breach of the warranty of habitability.  However, where the breach only lasts a few hours without further damages such as sewage overflow, the damages are de minimis.

Where the property owner or property manager refuses to fix inoperable sanitary fixtures or indicates that repairs may leave the California tenant without operable sanitary fixtures for some time, the tenant may be within their right to demand alternative accommodations or a hotel stipend.  Again, the law does not expressly identify an exact amount of time sanitary fixtures must be inoperable before the property owner or property manager must provide alternative accommodations or a hotel stipend.  Rather, the tenant may be able to successfully obtain either objective by:

  1. Confirming in writing with the property owner or property manager that the unit will be without a particular sanitary fixture for a significant amount of time;
  2. Relating to the property owner or property manager how that constitutes a violation of the implied warranty of habitability – as well as the covenant of quiet enjoyment;
  3. That the property owner and property manager cannot force the tenant to waive their statutory right to a habitable unit by forcing them to accept the unit without sanitary fixtures maintained in good working order;
  4. Requesting that the property owner and property manager provide alternative accommodations in the form of another unit entirely or access to a nearby unit with sanitary fixtures for the period of time that their unit will be without sanitary fixtures, or provide a hotel stipend so that they may relocate to a comparable hotel room containing operable sanitary fixtures (but unlikely to contain kitchen facilities and appliances) for the period that their rental unit will be without operable sanitary fixtures.

Please click here to read our next post to see how California tenants might take matters into their own hands when faced with inoperable or malfunctioning sanitary fixtures.