We moved into our apartment in Vermont on March 08th of this year. Ever since we moved in we could only get, literally 2 minutes of hot water at a time, and then it would be hours before we could get any more. We have gone weeks at a time with absolutely no hot water. I learned that the previous tenant moved out because of this. I had notified the landlord immediately, reminded him every chance I got and still nothing. I told him I didn’t feel that it was right for him to expect full rental cost for an apartment that didn’t have hot water. He didn’t agree. This last month, I told him that I am not paying any rent until the hot water is repaired and working properly. He has served me with the 14 day notice to quit in response. I don’t really know where to go or who I need to seek out to help me with this whole situation. I know that to be considered habitable there needs to be adequate hot water, but I don’t know who determines what is adequate and I don’t know what to do about it. Any thoughts, advice that anyone can offer to me will be much appreciated. I have tried researching this on the internet and I am just not getting anywhere. Thank you for reading my epic saga of woe and self pity!
In many states, hot and cold running water are part of the landlord’s duty to the tenant, and cannot be waived by the language of the lease agreement. Contact an attorney specializing in landlord/tenant disputes. The Vermont Bar will direct you to one if you call them.
Have you advised the landlord of your concerns in writing? Do it now. One copy certified mail, one hand delivered or left where you leave rent payments.
I am not a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction. This is not legal advice, etc. Good luck.
What state are you in? This matters immensely.
Check your municipality, many have their codes and ordinances listed online now. There should be information on which city department of inspection to enter a complaint with. There may also be instructions on what you can do for yourself in the meantime. Where I live, you give the landlord notice in writing with 14 days for the landlord to comply (as long as it’s a violation item listed in they city’s code of items you can do this with - hot water is definitely on the list) and if the issue isn’t fixed, you have the right to make the repair yourself and take it out of that month’s rent. Along with submitting receipts and documenting what’s been done, of course.
Vermont. It’s literally the 7th word in the OP.
Here are the applicable statutes in Vermont. (Also, check your municipality’s codes. They sometimes offer better protection than the state codes.)
It looks like hot water is considered one of the landlord’s obligations for habitability and that a tenant can withhold rent payment for noncompliance.
However, I would make sure you have good documentation that you notified the landlord and seek legal counsel ASAP. Try a local tenants’ rights organization for a lead.
Your problem at this point is you have no documentation you have made this request repeatedly with no response so it might be difficult to get a ruling in your favor re withholding rent.
I am curious why spending a few hundred dollars to repair a hot water heater would be more problematic than losing and having to replace an on time paying tenant in the landlord’s view. It does not seem to make sense on the face of it. Are you paying some ultra low rent or something?
In thinking about it further an apartment hot water heater might be substantially more expensive than a single family house residential hot water heater and the costs are more than I thought.
IANAL. I have been a landlord, but not in Vermont.
Document with your landlord in writing. Keep copies of everything you do moving forward. Write up everything that has happened so far and get copies of that to the applicable authorities ASAP. If the link supplied by Catastraphic Failure does not get you to the appropriate City or County authorities, try their websites, or calling their Housing departments.
You might also find out who handles evictions (Sheriff, etc) and contact Non-emergency line or website for more information. They may be able to help you find the right agencies as well.
Good luck.
I would report the landlord to the heath department .
I found this web site . Look up tenants rights and get the names of people you do talk to . I live in a condo and the heat is the condo responsibility , one my elderly neighbor had no heat and I called the health department for her and they called the manger of my condo and they brought more space heaters to my neighbor until the heater could be fixed.
Does your unit have it’s own water heater located in a utility closet or something? If so, have you looked at it? How big is it, does it have a “vacation” setting that might be activated? Is it leaking? If it’s gas, do you hear it “fire up” after you run the hot water?
As others have said, you need to document your communications with the land lord and I would also try to document the problem. Buy a digital instant read thermometer and take video of you holding it under the running water until the temp drops. If you can afford it and you have access, hire a plumber to come in to diagnose the problem. That way you have a third-party record that there really is a problem.
Consumer Assistance Program Complaint Instructions
Those links/websites all have great information about legal resources in VT for dealing with this kind of issue.
I don’t know about your state, but I know as far back as 34 years ago, you could, after making a sincere effort to get your landlord to fix something, just go out and pay for it yourself and then subtract that money from your rent in the state of Minnesota.
Hell, I walked that road in 1981 in my first apartment. The landlord failed to repair our disposal for better than three months and was refusing to commit to a time to replace it, so I sent them a letter giving them a deadline and saying I would have it repaired the day after the deadline and subtract that money from my rent.
They came out the next day and replaced it.
Just be sure your state laws support such a thing before trying it.
Hell, my sister is a housing inspection supervisor for a mid-sized city. She would condemn the structure as unfit for habitation until such time as it was fixed. I know, because she’s talked about having done that sort of thing in the past.
Highly dependent on state’s laws or course, but I’ve also done this twice myself. One case was for cockroach spraying, the other was for a broken bathroom water supply leaking badly. I gave written warning (certified mail) that I would deduct costs from the following months rent.
I used to manage a 96-unit complex, and each unit had its own water heater (electric and probably 40 gal). A replacement water heater and the labor to swap it out ran us about $300. (This was 10 years ago, and perhaps a reduced price because the plumber kept the old unit and re-used/recycled components.)
This is such a no-brainer for a landlord, probably anywhere in the US. I could live with this problem for a few days, but I’d still plan on moving because any landlord that doesn’t resolve this like right now is clearly a landlord who doesn’t care.
Move. This relationship is beyond repair and you will waste time and money trying to get satisfaction.
Just find another apartment. Within 14 days.
This is what I meant to say, but you beat me to it, and said it better. 
This landlord is a bully as well. Tenant complains about a longstanding issues (the last tenant left becuase of it) and the landlord sends an eviction notice? There will be other troubles down the road I bet. If he is forced to solve this problem you can bet on a huge rent increase for next year.
Plus, you don’t want to be there in October when you find out the furnace doesn’t work anymore, and our buddy the slumlord doesn’t care.
Five months? Five hours, I’d be patient. Five days and I’d be talking to an attorney.