LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – FOX5 is looking into Nevada law and your rights and options if you’re renting and your A/C goes out.
FOX5 heard from a woman named “Kim” who had trouble with her A/C since she moved in, back in April. She said her A/C did not work very well or at all, and showed FOX5 screen grabs of temperatures inside soaring to 97 degrees with the thermostat set at 74 degrees.
She tells FOX5 that property management with Cape Cod apartments did repeatedly send out a maintenance worker, but the string of repairs did not help. She said the maintenance worker told her to set the temperature to 74 degrees, with not much success to lowering the inside temperature.
“I guess we had a heat wave. And then we winded up having extremely high [temperatures] in here,” Kim said to FOX5. She ended up calling the newsroom to ask for help and any relief.
By the time FOX5 called Kim back, she reported that her A/C unit was completely replaced. She faced a different problem: her NV Energy bill soared to $700 for two months, and Kim worries that her broken A/C and thermostat set to 74 degrees led to the high bill.
FOX5 reached out to her management company to ask if and how they could assist with the bill; a representative with the company responded to our email, stating that the matter was a private matter between the tenant and management.
FOX5 turned to Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada for help. Your A/C is considered an “essential service” under state law, and your landlord must provide that service and repairs.
“We see it here almost every single day. We’ll also see at the Civil Law Self Help Center. What are my rights? What do I have to do?” said consumer rights attorney Harrison Bohn.
Bohn walks us through the steps you can and should take.
1) Send your landlord a notice. You must give a written notice, keep a copy and document how and when you sent it, via email, text or certified mail. You can use a copy from the Civil Law Self-Center’s sample letter. “You need to have that paper trail, especially if you get in front of a judge,” Bohn said.
2) Wait. You must give your landlord 48 hours, not including holidays or weekends, for them to respond and fix the problem.
3) Enforce your rights if the landlord does not repair your unit. You can exercise options that include:
º Paying for repairs, and deducting the amount from your rent.
º Getting a hotel or another option to stay. “Try and find something that’s very comparable to your rent, but also communicate all these costs to your landlord the entire time,” Bohn said.
º If repairs are not made, withhold your rent until the landlord has attempted to restore essential services.
If you withhold rent, you may run into a scenario where your landlord pursues an eviction. According to the Civil Law Self Help Center, respond to any notices from the court.
If you withheld rent, you must pay it to the court. “That’s showing the judge that ‘it’s never been about the money I can pay. I just want to live in somewhere that’s habitable,” Bohn said.
For a guide of what to do in these scenarios, click here: Essential Services and Your Rent
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