dilly-dilly- t1_japghcx wrote on March 3, 2023 at 2:37 AM

This is clearly laid out in the landlord tenant handbook.

https://www.courts.ri.gov/Courts/districtcourt/PDF/Handbook.pdf

Section 5.D basically describes your situation exactly and what you should do.

I'd send them a letter telling them the heating situation and tell them you want to deduct the extra energy costs from the rent. Even state you'll need to purchase a new unit as you need more rooms heated. Show your utilities increase, document everything. If everything is reasonable, how is your landlord supposed to hold up in court why he didn't fix your heating in the winter?

I'm paranoid as a landlord, I fix everything same week if not same day. I always give a copy of the employee handbook as many don't even realize they have a lot of power. It's supposed to be a favorable agreement between two parties and we both have a responsibility to each other.

gamefreak9199 OP t1_jar8kpn wrote on March 3, 2023 at 2:06 PM

Thank you for being a good landlord and maintaining your properties, your tenants are lucky people! I wrote a long message to both of them this morning detailing the building codes they were violating and outlining the sections of the Landlord Tenant handbook they are out of compliance with. Hopefully they will work to resolve the issues and we can work to find a new place in the meantime.

dilly-dilly- t1_jas65xn wrote on March 3, 2023 at 5:55 PM

I hope it works out for you and they do what is right. Update if you can! This always intrigues me because if you read the handbook, the tenants have a lot of rights. It confuses me that people describe complete unlivable situations but act like there is nothing to do. How would I convince a judge that it's reasonable for me to leave my tenants without heat in the winter?

I see it as, if I was paying to live in on a property and neglect was costing me additional out of pocket cost, I should document it and discuss rebating these costs with the landlord. If they give me any shit or ignore me, right to small claims court. I haven't needed to go for this situation but I'd love to see how this wouldn't go in favor of the tenant. (Maybe the court system is corrupt)

The main issue you can see in the handbook is that if a landlord violates these rights, tenant basically is able to leave. There are clearly costs to moving. Landlords should be responsible in those cases where they couldn't hold up their end of the deal and provide livable housing. There should be time limits on when critical amenities are expected to be fixed so tenants aren't left hanging. This is what I think most of those tenant rallies should be focusing on if they aren't. They highlight questionable things like past eviction shielding and no application costs.