Combination of remedies

Any one of the previous remedies, by itself, may not be totally suitable for you. Your situation may allow you to use a combination of different remedies.

Suppose, for example, that for the past 2 months you have paid the full rent but you have not had hot water. You have told the landlord about it, but he has not made the repairs in a reasonable length of time. In the meantime, you have found another place to live and plan to move there next month. What can you do? You may choose to:

• request that a part of the past 2 months’ rent be returned to you;
• pay your landlord a reduced amount of this month’s rent; and
• move out next month without being responsible for future rent to your present landlord.

​You should be aware that none of these options are perfect or easy winners. Any of them could cause your landlord to try to evict you before your next home is ready. However, if your landlord is truly not providing you with safe, sanitary conditions, it is unlawful to evict you for complaining to Code Enforcement or seeking necessary repairs.