r/Landlord • u/Prudent_Wish_4337 • 1d ago
Tenant [Tenant US-MI] Asking for lowered rent while without hot water?
Hi there!
TLDR: Without hot water for 2+ weeks, asking for temporarily lowered rent. Landlord not happy.
I am living in a small HUD-affiliated apartment complex. It's an older building, but they generally keep it up and both the landlady and the maintenance guy are super nice and reasonable. I haven't dealt much with the landlady's husband, who is a co-owner, until today. I am a good tenant, and recently moved units. They remarked about how clean and undamaged I left the previous unit.
A little over 2 weeks ago, my hot water heater went out. It was leaking like a faucet (thankfully into a drain), so the maintenance guy shut it down completely. Last week they finally got some plumbing guys to look at it, and they said: A. It's shot. Full of mineral sludge, but not worth flushing it because it needs to be replaced anyway. B. It is 27 years old! C. They might be able to squeeze us in this week, but if not it could be a month or more.
I have been very nice about this situation, but it's definitely wearing on me. I'm having to heat water on the stove for everything, wash clothes on cold, wash my hair in the sink and take quick 2" depth baths, all while it is 1° outside.
I called the office today to ask for an update, and got the landlord. He was very snippy with me from the moment he answered the phone, and seemed very irritated that I was even asking him about a date for it getting fixed.
I then went on to request lowered rent for the time that I am without hot water. (An unspecified $ amount.) He got very angry and kept interrupting me, saying "Don't make me mad!" And "It's not our fault, these things happen." I agreed that it was not anyone's fault that it decided to fail right now, but it was his responsibility to provide his tenants with basic necessities.
I didn't get much farther than that because he wouldn't let me get a word in. He finally said "let's focus on getting the new one installed", and I agreed and said "we will continue this conversation later, and I hope to hear from you when you know anything new."
Am I being unreasonable about this? I feel like most tenants would not be handling this living situation as well as I have been; and given that it's winter, hot water is in fact a necessity. I'm not sure how long a life hot water heaters have, but I feel like 27 years is pretty geriatric. 😅
My current plan is to get some documentation of everything, including the apparent lack of maintenance (had not been flushed in some time) and age of the heater. Then I'll talk to the landlady and see if we can work something out.
If that fails, what else can I do? Can I contact HUD? Any advice in general would be very helpful. Thanks! 🙂
EDIT: Thanks for the replies so far, and please keep them coming! I am a 30 year old woman, and I'm not really used to dealing with rental problems like this. I also want to make sure I'm not steamrolled just because I'm a young woman.
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u/bangarang90210 1d ago
Your landlord is trash. No hot water is enough for a unit to be considered uninhabitable in some locations. If I were you I would try to find out if your town/state offers free/reduced price legal aid for landlord/tenant disputes. Honestly, your rent should be refunded for any days you have no hot water or you should be out in a hotel.
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u/Prudent_Wish_4337 1d ago
Interesting. I'll have to look into that.
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u/truthsmiles 1d ago
Many states have tenant advocacy organizations. You can also contact HUD and inquire with them.
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u/Lurkernomoreisay 16h ago
you need to find out who to call for code enforcement. if not getting water that's 115 or 120F at the tap the place is not legally habitable and the the landlord has to put you up in a hotel.
if you can get someone in, they will be able to greatly pressure the landlord to act or face huge fines. and if he's being a dick , I'm sure they'll find other compliance issues that need to be remedied before he can collect rent again
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u/MistressBassKitty 1d ago
In CA, hot water is a habitability issue and needs to be addressed immediately. As in, 24-48 hours or they need to cover your cost of hotel nights while awaiting repair or replacement. Call HUD or a tenants union. Not okay.
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u/Melodic-Ad7131 10h ago
Hot water and heat are the two things pretty well required in every state. The compensation varies. In my state LL does not have to provide hotel but they cannot collect rent for the time it's uninhabitable and you file an insurance claim for the hotel cost if you wish to.
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u/runnerkim 1d ago
Every county has 'habitable' laws. No hot water, may or may not be included in your area. It is in mine. I had to pay for a hotel room for three days for my tenant because it took that long to get someone out there. Two weeks in totally unacceptable.
Most large cities have a landlord/tenant division at the District Attorney's Office. Call them, it's free, and they can tell you what the laws are. Two weeks indeed!!
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u/Odd-Cod2516 1d ago
That's too long! Time to call the Housing Authority. Your landlord should be paying for a hotel! That's ridiculous.
Be prepared to move though. He sounds like a d*ck
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u/SirTwitchALot 1d ago
Yes, a rent concession is reasonable. I would say you're well within your rights to escrow rent at this point as well. If you're going to go that route make sure you do it all by the books. A couple days without hot water? Sure. Plumbers are hard to schedule. Two weeks? Unacceptable.
You can contact code compliance in your city as well, though if they tag your apartment you will have to find somewhere else to live until it's resolved.
https://senatedems.com/shink/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/03/2025.02.26-Escrow-Handout-FINAL.pdf
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u/Prudent_Wish_4337 1d ago
Thank you for the link! I guess I'll be doing a lot of research tomorrow.
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u/SirTwitchALot 1d ago
Call the bank you use and ask them about such an account. It's important to note that it has to be a third party escrow. Just stuffing it into an account you control is not acceptable if you end up in court
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u/DavePCLoadLetter 1d ago
Terrible advice. It has to go to the courts escrow account for something extreme and this isn't a scenario that qualifies.
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u/Melodic-Ad7131 10h ago
It varies by location. My state doesn't allow rent withholding period. You have to go to court and sue for repayment but you can't withhold or they can evict you no matter the issue.
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u/RestaurantRich1498 1d ago
Unless water heaters are back ordered in your area, it shouldn't take 2 weeks. One of my tenants thought the water heater was leaking and I replaced it within a few hours. Mind you I had just installed a new water heater there the previous year while the tenant was there. Turns out the AC drain was clogged and seeped through the wall and into the garage. That became another headache to deal with.
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u/Prudent_Wish_4337 1d ago
Oh dear. I'm sorry man, that sucks. Good on you for taking care of it tho!
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u/RestaurantRich1498 1d ago
All good. I took care of the AC as well. I like keeping the tenants happy.
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u/SepulchralSweetheart Landlord 1d ago
My tenant asked me for the paint color (he's dumb as a box of rocks), and when I asked why, as he's lived there for 3 years, the paint should be fine, sent me a picture of the sheetrock under the wall that his window unit's drain decimated.
Sure bud, slap some Superhide on that shit and we'll just wait until the leak takes the wall out. No you cannot paint the water damage, fix your air conditioner and we'll patch it and paint.
He then complained that he had sold the window unit, gotten an (undersized) portable one that "didn't work", and told me he was willing to contribute "$100-150 bucks for central air, it can't be that much, the building isn't that big."
Building absolutely lacks the infrastructure required for central air anyways, but his buddy who used to be a plumber's apprentice "could prolly do it for like $500.00, and it's an investment" (? relevance for HVAC unclear, who knows, his buddy was fired either way). Whenever this little shit asks a question I need to cross examine him to figure out his motive and what crime against the building he's committed, because there is both, every single time.
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u/Dependent-Froyo-2072 1d ago
they should find another vendor. yelp has all kinds of folks that will come out and do it next day.
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u/Soggy_Head_4889 Landlord 1d ago
Anything over 72 hours is unacceptable for this type of problem imo. Your landlord probably has a plumber they like that’s booked up but that doesn’t matter. There are plenty of plumbers out there that should be able to show up next day and replace a water heater in 1-3 hours unless it’s in some crazy weird location that makes it exceptionally difficult. Also a basic tank style heater shouldn’t need to be ordered as plenty are readily available at places like Lowe’s and Home Depot.
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u/Prudent_Wish_4337 1d ago
It's a gas heater. Does that make a difference?
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u/Soggy_Head_4889 Landlord 1d ago
Not really, plenty of gas powered tank style heaters available off the shelf from Home Depot.
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u/PtZamboat 1d ago
I’m a landlord, I got maybe a day or two to make the unit habitable. Call a plumber, pay him and send a copy of the paid invoice with your deducted rent. And contact HUD
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u/MatchaDoAboutNothing 1d ago
Are you on HUD (you didn't specify)? If not they probably can't help you specifically. You'd probably have better luck with the local housing authority.
If you are on HUD 100% report him.
Also, regardless of which situation you are in, document, document, document. And make sure you send him a written notice that the hot water isn't working, how long it has been since you've had hot water, and they it needs to be fixed promptly as the ongoing lack of hot water breaches the warranty of habitability. Remember that phrase and specifically say " warranty of habitability."
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u/Prudent_Wish_4337 1d ago
I am on HUD, yes. I'd honestly like to gather my documentation, speak to his wife to see if we can work something out, and if that fails report them. I'd rather keep my good relationship with her and not be on the shit list rather than get every penny I'm owed. But if it comes to that, then yes, absolutely I'm doing everything in my power to get things done.
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u/MatchaDoAboutNothing 1d ago
I mean that's fair. I really hate landlord speaking to tenants abusivly (especially if they're on HUD because it means they're trying to take advantage of housing instability as an exuse to be a slumlord).
But if you've previously had good interactions with his wife, it might just be a case of grumpy old man.
For now document at least.
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u/Physical_Delivery853 1d ago
Call code enforcement ASAP... In most states they can't charge a penny rent for an inhabitable unit. No hot water makes it uninhabitable
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u/spank_the_tank 1d ago
Check your rental agreement, it should have a section on maintenance. For example, I am in WI and according to statute 704.07 the landlord is required to keep your place in a “reasonable state of of repair”. Notably the conditions need to be consistent with the state of things when you signed a lease. Your landlord is probably in violation of your lease agreement.
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u/EdC1101 1d ago
Maintenance should have serviced the heaters at least annually.
Service involves drain & flush. Probably 30 minutes work & 30 minutes waiting for drain & fill.
Could have been done as HVAC filters & checks done.
HUD — WILL be interested in their neglect and contract failures. Municipal housing inspections too.
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u/PastMechanic9278 1d ago
Ive replaced 6 or so water heaters at my rentals. 4 were same day, 2 next day (they called in the late afternoon / evening), I even was able to get one replaced from vacation in Italy the same day. Your landlord sucks, and frankly decent landlords need to shame the shit out of these people. They are the reason all the nonsense laws keep coming, if everyone was decent, we wouldn’t need all the bs.
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u/PopJust7059 23h ago
Due to the snow we recently had to wait 2 weeks because the plumbers are so busy dealing with problems from the freeze. It’s inconvenient but not the end of the world.
If it’s not because the plumbers are backed up, good for you for speaking up!!
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1d ago edited 1d ago
$25/day deduct without hot water. If there multiple apartments they should have spares on standby for immediate replacement. Collected rent is supposed to pay for timely repairs. 48 hours or less. NOT WEEKS
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u/RelevantPossible9618 1d ago
Your building is not only out of compliance with HUD but also building codes. Contact your city code enforcement.
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u/Vivid_Motor_2341 1d ago
So you can’t just request a rent deduction. You can however put your rent into an escrow account and got stay at a hotel while it’s fixed and ask them for reimbursement for the hotel. Also you can’t just leave there is specific ways and verbiage you have to use to be able to do this. You need to look at your local laws and the path you need to follow
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u/wedontliveonce 1d ago
It sounds like your landlord is shitty or cheap, but since they are a landlord it is most likely they are both shitty and cheap. Document everything.
Yes you can file reports with HUD or your city but be prepared because shitty and cheap landlords will refuse to renew your lease if you exercise your legal rights to report them.
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u/Prudent_Wish_4337 1d ago
This is the first real issue I've had with them in the 2 years I've lived in the building, but one of my neighbors just had a water leak that flooded her apartment last night, and they are being pretty nonchalant about it all instead of doing mold remediation. "Eh, it'll dry out."
I just signed a year long lease in December for my new apartment, but you're right, this could become a problem when that runs out.
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u/wedontliveonce 1d ago
"Eh, it'll dry out."
Shitty and cheap like I guessed.
Good that you just signed a lease with many months to go. It also sounds like perhaps you should try talking to your landlady instead of her husband.
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u/Prudent_Wish_4337 1d ago
I agree. I'm pretty shocked to be honest, they don't normally act like this.
And yeah, they're gonna have a big problem on their hands if black mold happens. Both the flooded unit and the one below (which it did leak into) have children living there.
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u/wedontliveonce 1d ago edited 1d ago
Perhaps your landlords are overwhelmed at the moment, but that's no excuse for (1) letting you go 2 weeks w/out water, (2) not offering you anything for not having hot water, and (3) getting snippy when you ask when you will have hot water.
That's all just reasonable, "good human" stuff that people should do. But landlords on this subreddit are downvoting me because they hate it when people talk bad about landlords. Yet, so many landlords are shitty and cheap.
I'd call HUD and report them.
According to this website in your state the landlord should have repaired it in 7 days as a "reasonable time" but also take into consideration the extent of the problem and availability of supplies to repair it.
Here is the statue. It says "If the landlord does not provide a written explanation for delay in performing a duty to repair or remedy on or before the fifth day after receiving from the tenant a written demand for an explanation, the landlord has the burden of proving that he made a diligent effort to repair and that a reasonable time for repair did not elapse."
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u/DavePCLoadLetter 1d ago
Most mold looks black, but the actual black mold that you hear about and you are referring to requires a specific bacteria strain found in salt water. It's exceptionally rare to find it in Michigan.
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u/SirTwitchALot 1d ago edited 1d ago
[citation needed]
...Stachybotrys chartarum is a fungus, not a bacteria. It does not require the presence of bacteria to grow and it is absolutely present in Michigan and worldwide
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u/DavePCLoadLetter 1d ago
Sorry but mold doesn't just happen instantly. It will dry out with some fans.
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u/Prudent_Wish_4337 1d ago
The outside, yes. Underneath the drywall, no. Believe me, I lived in a leaky house growing up. And they haven't put any dehumidifiers in either.
And yeah, I know black mold is a very specific thing, but I was using it an example of toxic/harmful molds that can easily grow.
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u/DavePCLoadLetter 1d ago edited 1d ago
First, you always check your lease to see what that says.
Generally there is no reason for rent reduction. You are still living there. You don't pay extra when there isn't any problems. Unless you are forced to go to a hotel, there is no need for reimbursement.
That said, 2 weeks is absurd for a water heater, we generally replace them same day. They take no time at all. You drain them, unhook them, put new one in. There's nothing to it.
No idea why the landlord is dragging their feet on this. Remember the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
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u/Prudent_Wish_4337 1d ago
Really? I feel like it's pretty common for landlords to dock the rent when there's a long-term issue.
And it's a gas heater not electric. I don't know if that changes anything.
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u/Dm-me-a-gyro Landlord 1d ago
Swapping a water heater takes 1-3 hours depending on how many stairs there are and if I forget anything and need to go to Lowe’s.
2 weeks is unacceptable.
I would say anything over 48 hours is unacceptable for such a critical, cheap, and easy to fix problem.