Here's the situation, the hot water in our apartment complex was shut off without notification, and has been since this past Friday.  Several calls have been made to the landlord addressing the situation which go straight to voice mail, and are seemingly just ignored.  We have no other points of contact like a building maintenance manager, the previous one recently quit, and he hasn't provided us any information with whom to call or report such issues.

I heard from one of the other tenants in the building that the water heating tank was damaged so It may be a couple of days to get it replaced...so you'd think the landlord would say something?   My question is, should I report this to the rent board?  I've been a tenant of 10 years with no major problems in the past.  The complex has changed ownership a couple of times, but the current owners style of managing things are just unacceptable.  I just don't want to come off as "that tenant".

Any other yelper's out there in the SF community sharing this same type of slumlord problem?

Is there a home warranty company listed in your lease agreement?
I always list that in my leases and my tenants can call directly for stuff like that.

You must have a contact point -- where are you sending the rent checks?  Send a written notice (keep a copy) that the water heater has not been working for X days, say what you are doing in response (staying somewhere else?  Getting a day rate at a gym?) and what it's costing you, and that you need a contact in order to report any other emergencies as they arise.

I would contact the rent board immediately to see what your recourse is both in terms of rent remediation / obligations and getting things fixed.  My gut reaction to not being able to bathe or clean dishes would be to have the thing repaired and/or make alternate plans (a hotel), and withhold from future rent any costs and/or lost use of the apartment.  Hoever, this turns on a concept called a warranty of habitability, which gets a little tricky -- the rent board may advise you.

HTH

Get to the SF Tenants Union website at once and to a low fee session right away.  I am usually dismayed by their in the street rah rah activism but when you are getting screwed by the man, this is the place to go.

Can you make your complaint annonymously? Maybe see if the rent board can send the landlords a notice on the entire building's behalf?
That way the owners know they're being watched, but you aren't outted for retribution.

Maybe slumlord might be a bit harsh, but I just wanted to get my point across.  I did have a problem with him holding on to my rent checks (not cashing them?) until I started sending them certified mail in cashiers check form.  But I don't understand why they just wouldn't say anything to us tenants, I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt but It's been 3 days already, that's just unfair and unacceptable.    I'd be understanding if I at least got a phone call, a letter taped to the door, something that shows that our concerns are being addressed.

bg...what's a home warranty company? I have my original lease, I'm just not sure what that might be.

And everyone else thanks,  I'll take a look at the free advice from the SF rent board.

Cindy, I'd prefer to make my complaint anonymously, I don't want to come off as "that tenant".  So if there is that option that's the route I'll be taking.

There are certain services/utilities that are considered necessary for survival.  I'd bet that hot water is one of them.  You may be able to replace the hot water heater yourself and legally deduct its cost from your rent.

I had a long-distance landlord a while back that kept replacing dead refrigerators with soon-to-be-dead used refrigerators.  After this happened for the third time, I got tough.  I researched my rights on the internet and with the SF Tenants Union (who later really helped with the owner move-in eviction!).

At that point, I insisted on a new refrigerator.  When she stalled, I wrote up the whole history of crap refrigeration in the flat and faxed it to her place of business. (heh)  I told her if I didn't get a reply in 24 hours, I was buying a top of the line fridge and deducting it from rent.  She did contact me, and I got a brand-new (albeit modest) refrigerator.

Good luck!

If the Rent Board won't act (or they require you to identify yourself) maybe type up a letter of complaint about not being notified of the problem, and requesting that ALL tenents be informed of issues/repair time/etc, and signing as just "a Tenant".  Maybe that will shake 'em into action.
Get it certified mailed from the post office so you have record that they received it.
Down the road, if they continue to be bad landlords and rack up more neglectful incidents, you'll have some documentation with or without the RB.

I would advice getting advice from both the Rent Board and the TEnants rights group.

Also, an anonymous letter might be a good first step if you fear retaliation.  I believe that a landlord who takes retaliatory action, though, may face legal consequences.  Last time I checked, they cannot evict you for at least 6 months after you make a habitability claim (unless of course you break your lease terms in some way) because that would be considered a 'retaliatory eviction."  

But you probably don't want to get into that situation. Start with the Rent board, tenants rights, and anonymous letter detailing the dates and exact circumstances, and CC the rent board on it (without your name).

Hot water is considered a basic habitability requirement and it seems that the landlord is required to have it repaired ASAP (I think in 24 or 48 hours) and if not the renter has options to have it repaired and deduct the cost from the rent, withhold rent, report it, etc.

Nolo publishes books about these things and seems to have some good info on their site as well:
nolo.com/resource.cfm/ca…

Good luck!

Nolo publishes a California Tenants Right handbook. (tinyurl.com/8uxdo)

That book has helped me more than SF Tenant Union (sftu.org), although the union worked at times as just something to name-drop.

Wow...our slumlord must yelp...or word travels fast! I got 2 phone calls  right after this thread started saying that the water heater goes in tomorrow.  And if you are reading this (you slumlord you know who you are!) don't think I'm not going to take all this great advice from our yelp community for granted.

Don't f*ck with us we mean business!

Thank you yelper's!!!

In order to protect you from reprisal, the Rent Board will NOT identify the tenant when contacting the landlord re: a complaint.

You could always just rate him on pickalandlord.com