SAN ANTONIO — Landlords are not automatically required to provide air conditioning in Texas. Still, when AC is in a tenant's rental agreement, the landlord is often responsible. That doesn't always mean a landlord will address AC issues right away, however.
Lone Star Legal aid Staff Attorney Juan Santamaria told KENS 5 renters need to take several steps if they are worried a landlord might be dragging their feet.
1. Make sure your rent is paid.
While it might seem counter intuitive that you must pay a landlord if they are not fixing something, failing to pay rent can automatically give landlords a legal excuse to procrastinate on repairs. If a tenant ever tries to take a landlord to court, this is the first issue that will be brought up.
"You want to make sure that you are up to date on rent and you are going to want everything in writing," Santamaria said. "In order to enforce any of your rights the (state) code specifically states you have to be up to date on rent."
Santamaria said tenants only have the option to withhold rent after they have gone before a judge and received a ruling in their favor. Refusing to pay rent before you go to court is a huge mistake for a tenant.
2. Send a certified letter that requests a return receipt when reporting AC issues.
Most landlords will take maintenance requests though a phone call or a web portal. If a tenant's AC stops working, Santamaria said you need to send a certified letter if you are concerned about the landlord following through.
A certified letter creates a legal paper trail of the repair request and is the best way to prove when requests were made, and what they said, in court. If a tenant reports and issue with a text or email, the landlord can claim they got those messages later and then claim they still acted as soon as possible.
3. Give the landlord time to repair the issue or offer to have the issue repaired yourself and ask for reimbursement.
Santamaria said landlords have three days to start on an AC repair. This does not mean they are required to fix it in three days. Once a repair starts, the landlord has "a reasonable amount of time" to complete it. This is normally seven calendar days (not business days). Still, if a company needs a few extra days for a part to come in or needs to reschedule once because they are booked, those can still be viewed as "reasonable" delays. The burden is on the tenant to prove a landlord is not dealing with reasonable days in court.
"If the landlord is saying a 'special' piece is missing and they have to order it out of country, which will take two months, just because it's five cents cheaper; Whereas we can also go to home depot to get it for five cents more; A judge would say that is unreasonable," Santamaria said.
Alternatively, a tenant can also ask their landlord to allow the tenant to pay for the repair and later be reimbursed by the landlord. If a tenant attempts to do this, however, Santamaria said they must get the landlord to sign a paper contract stating that they will be reimbursed. If they don't, they risk having the landlord back out of the deal.
4. Take the landlord to court
If the landlord does not fix the AC within a reasonable time, a tenant can go to a county Justice of the Peace court start a lawsuit. The tenant should go to the court clerk and ask to "petition the court for repairs or remedies with a landlord."
This allows the tenant to sue the landlord and ask a judge to order the landlord to make the repair. They can also sue for "damages" which could include several months of rent, attorneys' fees, and filing fees.
They could also sue for the right to make the repair and deduct it from their rent or have the landlord reimburse them.
Tenants can review their options with the Texas Renter's Rights Handbook or at TexasLawHelp.org. Santamaria also said Lone Start Legal Aid can sometimes provide an attorney for free.
"My recommendation, if you looking at filing, is to always talk to an attorney.
Santamaria said. "You can always call lone star legal aid. We are free attorneys, or if they have a local attorney that they would rather speak to I recommend that. It makes life a lot easier because this is complex."