My landlord won't make repairs

Put it in writing, today

This is the step that decides most repair disputes, and it costs nothing. A verbal complaint is very hard to prove; a dated message is evidence.

You do not need legal language. State what is broken, when you first reported it, how it affects you, and ask for it to be fixed. Send it by a method that leaves a record and keep a copy for yourself.

• Say exactly what is wrong and where.
• Give the date you first mentioned it, if this is not the first time.
• Say what it stops you doing — no hot water, cannot use the kitchen, cannot sleep.
• Attach photographs or a short video.
• Ask for a date by which it will be fixed.

Urgent and everything else

Most jurisdictions treat some repairs as emergencies with much shorter timelines: no heat in winter, no water, no electricity, a gas leak, a failed lock on an exterior door, flooding, or anything that makes the home unsafe.

If yours is one of those, say the word "emergency" in your message and contact your tenancy authority the same day rather than waiting. Several places also allow a municipal property-standards inspection, which can compel work faster than a tribunal.

Can you stop paying rent?

This is the most common question and the most dangerous answer to get wrong. In some jurisdictions there is a formal process — often called rent escrow or a rent abatement application — where you pay rent to a tribunal or into a designated account instead of to the landlord, and it protects you.

Simply not paying is different, and in many places it hands your landlord a straightforward eviction ground even though they are the one at fault. The protective version usually requires you to follow specific steps first.

Because the difference between the two is the difference between winning and losing your home, this is exactly the point to read your own authority rather than a general article.

What a tenancy authority can order

People often assume the only remedy is being told to move. It is usually the opposite — the remedies are designed to keep you housed and make the landlord act.

• An order that the repair be completed, sometimes by a set date.
• A rent reduction for the period you went without.
• A refund of rent already paid.
• Permission to arrange the work and deduct the cost, in some jurisdictions.
• In serious cases, an order ending the tenancy without penalty to you.

What to keep

Repair cases are won on records. Start a folder now, even if you think it will resolve itself.

• Every message, in both directions, with dates.
• Photographs with timestamps, taken as the problem develops.
• Notes of visits: who came, when, what they did.
• Receipts for anything you have had to buy — a heater, a hotel, bottled water.
• Any inspection report from the municipality.

Common questions