Your home, while not perfect, has been your sanctuary for years.  You’ve paid your rent, you’ve taken care of the unit, despite its many imperfections.  You’ve complained about habitability defects profusely, for years, including the lack of electrical lighting in any of the rooms, which the landlord has not repaired or replaced for years.  Despite your prudence, the landlord has not made repairs to the nonworking electrical lighting, and your home remains uninhabitable through no fault of your own.  The nonworking electrical lighting has been in this intolerable condition for years.  However, you begin to feel that it is not fair.  Why should you, the upstanding & rent paying tenant, have paid rent for a home with a nonfunctional electrical lighting in any of the home’s rooms and that poses a health and safety threat to you and your family members.  You cannot see at night, and if you could, you fear the electrical system would cause an electrical fire.  You begin to wonder; Does my landlord have to provide working electrical lighting in my home?

Yes, your landlord has to provide electrical lighting in all of the rooms, including with wiring and electrical lighting maintained in good working order.  Rivera v. Sassoon, (1995) 39 Cal. App. 4th 1045, 1047 (Hazardous electrical wiring constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability); California Civil Code § 1941.1(a)(5); California Health & Safety Code § 17920.3(a)(10).  Provided it is not de minimis (minor or not severe), a home without electrical lighting constitutes a defective condition that substantially affects habitability.  Id.; CACI No. 4350 (Additionally, CACI No. 4350 expressly references nonfunctional electrical lighting as constituting a condition that constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability.).  Thus, a substantially dilapidated and nonworking electrical lighting system throughout a home is more than an inconvenience—it is a habitability concern that your landlord must remedy.

It is important to note here that your landlord cannot charge you to repair or replace the nonworking electrical lighting, except instances where you or your guest intentionally caused the damage.

Repeated complaints and broken promises should not define your experience at home.  When habitability defects persist and requests for repairs go unanswered, pursuing a habitability claim may be an important step toward holding those responsible accountable and seeking compensation for the harm you have suffered.  Your complaints, photographs, inspection reports, and records of losses can help tell that story, and help you as you litigate your timely filed breach of the implied warranty of habitability claim (not making repairs) in a court of law, including for nonworking electrical lighting.