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 a partially working, dilapidated kitchen sink that the landlord has not repaired or replaced for years.  Despite your prudence, the landlord has not made repairs to the dilapidated kitchen sink, and your home remains uninhabitable through no fault of your own.  The dilapidated kitchen sink 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 unsanitary kitchen sink that poses a life and safety threat to you and your family members.  You cannot wash dishes, and if you could, you probably would likely suffer severe illness due to the dilapidated kitchen sink.  It also leaks, and the faucet doesn’t even produce adequate water supply.  You begin to wonder; Does my landlord have to repair or replace a dilapidated kitchen sink?

Yes, your landlord has to repair or replace a dilapidated kitchen sink.  McNairy v. C.K. Realty, (2007) 150 Cal. App. 4th 1500, 1503-1504 (A dilapidated kitchen sink constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability); California Civil Code § 1941.1(a)(2), (3); California Health & Safety Code § 17920.3(a)(3).  Provided it is not de minimis (minor or not severe), a dilapidated kitchen sink that leaks, cannot produce hot and cold water, and other hazardous issues constitutes a defective condition that substantially affects habitability.  Id.; CACI No. 4350 (Additionally, CACI No. 4350 expressly references defective plumbing facilities and water supplies as constituting conditions that constitute breaches of the warranty of habitability.).  Thus, a substantially dilapidated kitchen sink 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 dilapidated kitchen sink, 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 a dilapidated kitchen sink.