{
  "title": "Landlord Won't Fix the Heat, Mold, or Leak — Who Do I Call?",
  "description": "The renter's escalation ladder that actually works: written notice, code enforcement, repair-and-deduct, withholding — in order, with the retaliation protections that make each step safe(r).",
  "category": "home",
  "vertical": null,
  "tldr": "Escalate in order, in writing: first a written repair notice to the landlord — the paper trail is everything. Ignored? City code enforcement inspects free and turns your complaint into an official violation. Then repair-and-deduct, allowed in roughly 30 states and capped near one month's rent, or rent withholding where legal — some states require escrow. No heat in winter is an emergency violation: skip straight to code enforcement.",
  "who_to_call": [
    {
      "who": "Your landlord, in writing",
      "when": "Always first — text or email creating a timestamped record. Verbal requests legally never happened",
      "not_for": null
    },
    {
      "who": "City/county code enforcement or housing inspection",
      "when": "Written notice ignored — inspectors check heat, plumbing, electrical, structure, pests, and mold against housing codes, and their report is evidence",
      "not_for": "You haven't given the landlord written notice and a reasonable window first"
    },
    {
      "who": "311 (in cities that have it)",
      "when": "No heat in winter — heat-season violations are treated as emergencies; NYC's line is the model, most big cold-weather cities have an equivalent",
      "not_for": null
    },
    {
      "who": "A local tenant union or legal aid office",
      "when": "Before trying repair-and-deduct or withholding — both are state-specific and doing them wrong risks eviction",
      "not_for": null
    },
    {
      "who": "A tenant attorney",
      "when": "Retaliation after a complaint (eviction notice, rent hike, services cut) — that's illegal in most states and worth real money",
      "not_for": null
    }
  ],
  "costs": [],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Can my landlord evict me for complaining to code enforcement?",
      "a": "Retaliation is illegal in most states, with defined protection windows: California bars eviction, rent increases, and service cuts for 180 days after a habitability complaint; Texas bars retaliation for six months. Complaints to inspectors are also confidential in many jurisdictions. Retaliation happening anyway is when a tenant attorney becomes profitable rather than expensive."
    },
    {
      "q": "Can I just stop paying rent until it's fixed?",
      "a": "Not casually. Rent withholding exists in roughly 35 states in some form, but the mechanics are strict — Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, and Virginia require the withheld rent to go into escrow, and simply keeping the money in your account doesn't qualify. Done wrong, withholding converts your complaint into their eviction case. Check your state's exact procedure with a tenant union or legal aid first."
    },
    {
      "q": "How cold does it have to be before no-heat is 'an emergency'?",
      "a": "Cold-weather cities write it into code. NYC's heat season (Oct 1–May 31): landlords must maintain 68°F daytime when it's below 55°F outside, 62°F at night regardless, and hot water at 120°F year-round — violations run $250–$500 per day, escalating on repeat. Your city's numbers differ, but the pattern holds: winter heat failures are same-day code enforcement territory, not wait-a-week territory."
    },
    {
      "q": "The mold came back after the landlord 'fixed' it. What are my rights?",
      "a": "There's no federal mold standard — EPA sets no numeric limits and says visible mold makes testing unnecessary. Your lever is habitability, not mold law: document the recurrence (photos, dates), send written notice that the repair failed, and request a code inspection — inspectors in most jurisdictions treat visible mold as a code condition. Repainting over mold without fixing the moisture source, which is what recurrence usually means, is exactly what an inspection report captures."
    },
    {
      "q": "Can I pay for the repair myself and take it off the rent?",
      "a": "In roughly 30 states, yes — repair-and-deduct — with tight rules: caps commonly sit near one month's rent (California, Texas, Florida, Colorado; half a month in Washington, Oregon, Arizona), written notice and a reasonable wait come first, and California allows the remedy at most twice in any 12 months. Keep the invoice; the deduction must match it."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "Cornell Law (Wex): Implied warranty of habitability",
      "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/implied_warranty_of_habitability",
      "accessed": "2026-08-11"
    },
    {
      "label": "California Civil Code §1941.1 (habitability standards)",
      "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1941.1.",
      "accessed": "2026-08-11"
    },
    {
      "label": "California Civil Code §1942 (repair and deduct)",
      "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1942.",
      "accessed": "2026-08-11"
    },
    {
      "label": "California Civil Code §1942.5 (retaliation, 180 days)",
      "url": "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1942.5.",
      "accessed": "2026-08-11"
    },
    {
      "label": "Texas Property Code §92.331 (retaliation, six months)",
      "url": "https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._prop._code_section_92.331",
      "accessed": "2026-08-11"
    },
    {
      "label": "NYC 311: Residential heat and hot water requirements",
      "url": "https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-01036",
      "accessed": "2026-08-11"
    },
    {
      "label": "Tenants Union of Washington: Code enforcement",
      "url": "https://tenantsunion.org/rights/code-enforcement",
      "accessed": "2026-08-11"
    },
    {
      "label": "EPA: Mold testing and standards",
      "url": "https://www.epa.gov/mold/mold-testing-or-sampling",
      "accessed": "2026-08-11"
    },
    {
      "label": "ReadYourLease: Rent withholding overview (state counts)",
      "url": "https://www.readyourlease.ai/guides/rent-withholding-rights",
      "accessed": "2026-08-11"
    }
  ],
  "updated": "2026-08-11",
  "url": "https://whodoicallfor.com/home/landlord-wont-fix/",
  "json_url": "https://whodoicallfor.com/home/landlord-wont-fix.json",
  "recommended_call": null
}