Your landlord has a legal responsibility to keep your apartment in good repair. This, however, does not mean that he has to fix every scratch on the counters, and secure every screw on all the light fixtures.

The landlord has to insure that all of the parts of your apartment which are necessary to live in the apartment are working correctly.
These include:

• kitchen and bathroom plumbing
• ceilings
• floors
• doors and windows
• all appliances included with the apartment

Getting your landlord to make repairs can be as simple as asking. On the other hand, it may be as difficult as having to withhold your rent, or having to contact your local code enforcement office. Below are the steps you should follow if your apartment is in need of repairs. Whenever you are trying to enforce your tenant’s rights , it is always best if your rent is up to date.

Notify Your Landlord of the Problem in Writing

The first step in fixing a problem is identifying the problem. If your apartment is in need of necessary repairs, the first step is to notify your landlord of the problem. Do not assume that your landlord is aware of the problem because he has seen it. He may or may not be aware of it. If he is, it does not mean he considers it necessary to have it repaired. The law gives you the right to have repairs made by your landlord. It also requires you to notify the landlord in writing of the problem, and to give him a reasonable opportunity to fix it. Once you have identified the items in your apartment that are in need of repairs, write a simple letter to your landlord telling him which items are in need of repairs. This letter can be in the simple form of a list. Such as:

Dear Landlord:

Please be advised that the following items are in need of repairs:
1. Kitchen sink is leaking.
2. Bathroom bathtub is clogged. It drains slowly.

It is useful to identify the room in which the repair is needed. In the example above, I identify the room followed by the item in need of repairs. Make a copy of the letter and keep it for your records.

Give Your Landlord a Deadline and Threaten to Withhold Rent

I hope that writing a letter to your landlord will resolve the problem. However, if it does not, it is time to write your landlord a second letter. This second letter should have stronger language. You may choose to threaten to withhold rent.
You should wait approximately two weeks after the first letter before writing the second letter in order to give your landlord an opportunity to respond, or address the repair. This period of time may be less if the repair is an emergency or creates a safety risk.

If Repairs are not Made

Write a second letter to your landlord. It should also contain a list of the repairs.
It can be as follows:

Dear Landlord:

On blank date, I wrote to you requesting repairs to the items below:
1. Kitchen sink is leaking.
2. Bathroom bathtub is clogged. It drains slowly.
To this date, the repairs have not been addressed, and the problem continues. If these conditions are not repaired by blank date, I will have no choice but to withhold my rent until the repairs are made.

Once again, you must keep a copy of the second letter. If the repairs are not made within a reasonable time, you have the legal right to withhold the rent for the next month, and all subsequent months until the repairs are made.
Please note that you must not deny the landlord reasonable access to your apartment to make repairs, or to inspect the apartment in order to review the repairs you have requested. Reasonable access means access during normal business hours from Monday through Friday. This is especially important if your landlord makes a written request for access to your apartment. In such a case, you should always reply in writing.

Withholding Rent

To withhold your rent means to keep it safe either in a separate bank account, or in your regular bank account, but making sure it remains available to use for rent. When you withhold the rent, the landlord is still entitled to the payment once he makes the repairs you have requested.

After you withhold rent, your landlord can file an action for eviction against you. He/she can claim that you failed to pay the rent. In that case, having copies of the letters you sent to the landlord, and having the rent withheld in a bank account will become most important.

On the court date of a case for eviction based on non-payment of rent, when you go before the Judge, you simply tell the Court that you are withholding the rent because the landlord has failed to make necessary repairs. Generally, the Court will then schedule another hearing commonly called a Marini Hearing, to give you an opportunity to demonstrate that repairs in your apartment are necessary. The Court will Order you to deposit the rent you are withholding with the Court, and to provide the landlord with a list of the necessary repairs. These two conditions are mandatory, and you will not get a Marini Hearing unless you first comply with them. This is the reason that having the rent you have been withholding is so important. Without it, you will not get an opportunity to present your case regarding the necessary repairs to the Court. Instead, you will be evicted for non-payment of rent.

The most common defense landlords allege at a Marini Hearing is that the tenant has refused to allow him access to the apartment to make the repairs. You can then present to the Court the letters you wrote the landlord requesting repairs. Unless the landlord presents notices sent to you requesting access to your apartment, the Court should be convinced that you wouldn’t write to the landlord requesting repairs, and then refuse him access.

It is possible to negotiate, or to get a Court to allow you to keep some of the rent you withhold when the landlord has failed to make necessary repairs. If you can convince the Court that the conditions of your apartment are such that your basic living conditions have been negatively affected for an extended period, the Court may abate your rent. That is, determine that, for a number of months, your monthly rent should be less than the amount you have been paying. In such a case, you will get back a portion of the rent you have been withholding. Generally, this does not come to more than 20 to 25 percent of the monthly rent, and is usually allowed in cases in which the apartment is in very poor condition.

It is also possible for you to make necessary repairs, and to deduct the cost of those repairs from your rent. However, unless the necessary repairs are an emergency or create a safety concern, this is not advisable.

Finally, always remember that the services provided by Central Jersey Legal Services are free of charge for qualifying persons. Therefore, if you receive a complaint for eviction from your landlord, or have any legal questions, please call.