Self Help For California Tenants Facing Inoperable or Malfunctioning Sanitary Fixtures
In our last post, we considered how long a property owner, landlord, or property manager could wait before providing alternative accommodations or a hotel stipend. Most property owners and property managers tend to adhere to the spirit of the law – specifically the implied warranty of habitability and the covenant of quiet enjoyment – and their duty of care by providing operable sanitary fixtures or, where sanitary fixtures become inoperable, alternative accommodations or a hotel stipend. However, when a property owner, landlord, or property manager fails to comply with the law, thereby leaving their tenant(s) without basic modern amenities required by law, the tenant may be required to take matters into their own hands. But, how might California tenants help themselves where their unit lacks one (1) or more operable sanitary fixture, such as a toilet, bidet, or drain?
One (1) particularly useful measure is the written word. California tenants left without operable sanitary fixtures for a substantial period of time – in our view, at least three (3) hours – may text, iMessage, email, or personally deliver a letter to their landlord, property manager, or property owner requesting that they immediately restore the inoperable sanitary fixture, provide alternative accommodations in the form of access to a nearby unit with operable sanitary fixtures, or relocating them into alternative accommodations, or providing a hotel stipend so that they may relocate to a hotel room of their choice until service is restored. However, California tenants facing this issue may be time or cognitively taxed to the point that they are unable to write such a letter. With this in mind, we provide a template that for California tenants to use when seeking repairs to an inoperable or malfunctioning sanitary fixture, alternative accommodations, or a hotel stipend.
