Landlord refuses home repairs in San Diego County

Hello ***!
My name is Dolan and thank you so much for contacting me!
I just had a few quick questions for you:
When was the last time you gave them a heads-up about the repairs that were needed?

Got it; any idea on the reason for the delay? Have they made any attempts at a repair?

Understood! So you're just wondering what your rights are here, correct?

Ok! Did you need to tell me anything else? If not, I can start with answering your question.

Ok! I've been working on an answer while we've been chatting, so it'll just be a moment.

First, it is important to know the law.
California has an interest in public health and safety and requires landlords to maintain habitable premises. (Civil Code Section 1941, et seq. - https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=1941.1. ) In other words, the landlord has a duty to make the repairs to the property as soon as possible, typically within 30 days.
This is called the warranty of habitability.
So that begs the question, what do you do?

If there is a serious defect, where the landlord was given notice orally or in writing to repair, and the landlord was given a “reasonable time” to repair, but failed to do so, then a tenant can withhold all or part of the rent. (Green v. Superior Court (1974). - https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/green-v-superior-court-30265 ) 30 days is often considered reasonable.

Tenants have the right to repair dilapidations and deduct the cost of the repairs. (Civil Code Section 1942; Schweiger v. Superior Court (1970). - https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/schweiger-v-superior-court-30178 ) For the repair and deduct, the amount of the repair must be less than one month’s rent, the tenant cannot have more than two (2) deductions in twelve (12) months, the repair must render the premises uninhabitable, and the tenant cannot be responsible for the condition (Civil Code Sections 1929 and 1941.2. - https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1941.2&lawCode=CIV )

A tenant may move out of the dwelling (Civil Code Section 1942(a). - https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1942.&lawCode=CIV )

A tenant may also sue a landlord in small claims court to force the repair and/or sue for money damages.

So what do you do? It means that you should consider sending a demand letter to your landlord that you intend to take one of those options. MOST tenants will take the option of just withholding the rent. Since I presume rent is due again on 1/1, telling the landlord today that you want to withhold the rent because of this and actually withholding it is best. So you can send this in any way you want. It can be text, email, certified mail, or in person. I usually send letters via email because it’s faster and cheaper. I know it’s a lot, but does that help make sense of things a bit more? I want to make sure I didn’t leave anything out.

I think you should send the demand letter today, immediately, and highlight the issues that you've had and the length of time these things have been going on and that you intend to withhold the rent beginning 1/1.

You could also repair the property and deduct, but if you do that, my recommendation is to have a professional provide an invoice and a receipt for the work done.

Sure thing! So there are two options: you could find a template demand letter to send on your own - https://www.contractscounsel.com/t/document-form-checkout/256

The other option is I can draft a letter for you (since I'm in CA). That'll be $***.

Sure thing!
1. Yes, you can totally come back and I'll take a look.
2. Depending on what you want to do, I would send it for you if you hired me to send it. Otherwise, if you do the demand letter for yourself, you could send it ASAP.

Yes, you got it!