What to do if my landlord failed to pay the electric bill that operates the outside lights to my complex?
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What to do if my landlord failed to pay the electric bill that operates the outside lights to my complex?
Our landlord failed to pay the electricity bill for the exterior electricity: porch lights, sprinkler system and laundry room to our apartment complex over a month ago. Without electricity on the exterior of our building we feel very unsafe because we live in a downtown area and have lots of vagrants that frequent our block at night and we also have no way to do laundry. I know that no electricity to an apartment unit is considered a code enforcement violation; does that extend to the outside of the unit as well? Is there any other ways we can get them to fix the issue without moving out?
Asked on June 11, 2012 under Real Estate Law, California
Answers:
MD, Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
This is absolutely a safety code violation and possibly a building code violation or fire code violation. Your landlord cannnot simply shut lights off or fail to pay for basic utilities because you need to do laundry. Unless your personal unit has a laundry hook up, you should report this immediately and have notification given to the landlord to fix this in a matter of days or you will deduct the costs of laundry services from your rent for every rental payment in which the lights are still shut off.
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