We've been renting through a realtor acting as a property manager for over 3 years. Several weeks ago our AC unit stopped working. We immediately put in a service request following the instructions in our lease.
Being in Austin, the temperature in the house is now over 95 degrees and won't drop below 90 at night. We've had to completely move out of the apartment and in with family for more that 2 weeks now. Rental agency has gotten 2 separate HVAC repair companies to look at the unit. The first company came out a day after we called, and then instead of ordering parts, the rental agency waited for 10 days and then sent another company to look at it. Both companies have stated that it needs major repair and both have stated that it is not our fault, just aging equipment.
My question is, is there any mechanism or precedence that allows us to recover rent paid for when we cannot live in our apartment. Our lease clearly states that vital repairs will be made in a timely manner, which this is clearly a vital requirement given the current temperature. It will be 20 days at the end of this week and even though we are calling every day, there's still no sign that someone is going to repair it. Any suggestions, legal or otherwise would be greatly appreciated. My inclination is that the total bill is $5,000+, so I cannot pay for it myself and offset our rent from the amount we paid. I've read this is possible in Texas, however it's simply cost prohibitive in this case for us.
Being in Austin, the temperature in the house is now over 95 degrees and won't drop below 90 at night. We've had to completely move out of the apartment and in with family for more that 2 weeks now. Rental agency has gotten 2 separate HVAC repair companies to look at the unit. The first company came out a day after we called, and then instead of ordering parts, the rental agency waited for 10 days and then sent another company to look at it. Both companies have stated that it needs major repair and both have stated that it is not our fault, just aging equipment.
My question is, is there any mechanism or precedence that allows us to recover rent paid for when we cannot live in our apartment. Our lease clearly states that vital repairs will be made in a timely manner, which this is clearly a vital requirement given the current temperature. It will be 20 days at the end of this week and even though we are calling every day, there's still no sign that someone is going to repair it. Any suggestions, legal or otherwise would be greatly appreciated. My inclination is that the total bill is $5,000+, so I cannot pay for it myself and offset our rent from the amount we paid. I've read this is possible in Texas, however it's simply cost prohibitive in this case for us.
