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 a non-working water heater that the landlord has not repaired or replaced for years. It has left you with an adequate hot water supply. Despite your prudence, the landlord has not made repairs to the dilapidated water heater, and your home remains uninhabitable through no fault of your own. The dilapidated water heater 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 dilapidated and nonfunctioning water heater that poses a life and safety threat to you and your family members. You cannot bathe, and if you could, worry that the dilapidated water heater will explode. You begin to wonder; Does my landlord have to repair or replace a dilapidated and nonfunctioning water heater?
Yes, your landlord has to repair or replace a dilapidated and nonfunctioning water heater. Green v. Superior Court, (1974) 10 Cal. 3d 616, 621, 627 (A dilapidated water heater constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability); California Civil Code § 1941.1(a)(3); California Health & Safety Code § 17920.3(a)(5). Provided it is not de minimis (minor or not severe), a dilapidated water heater that cannot produce hot water constitutes a defective condition that substantially affects habitability. Id.; CACI No. 4350 (Additionally, CACI No. 4350 expressly references homes that cannot produce hot and cold water as constituting a condition that constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability.). Thus, a substantially dilapidated and nonfunctioning water heater is more than an inconvenience—it is a habitability concern that your landlord must remedy.
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 a dilapidated and nonworking water heater.