Is a broken AC considered an urgent repair (Israel rental)

amother

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:11 am

ours hasn't been working for a month and our landlord doesn't seem to be fazed.

amother

Daffodil

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:15 am

In this heat wave YES!
apparently this July was the hottest July ever recorded

Bnei Berak 10

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:32 am

Unless you live in ramat hagolan close to the Chermon I would say yes it's a total necessity.

Elfrida

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:45 am

Yes.

You might want to just tell him that you will deal with it, and take the money off the next month's rent. When I so this, I ask the landlord is they have any preferred service person. Sometimes it makes them get on and take care of it, and sometimes there are just happy not to have to deal with it.

If you do this, make sure to get a receipt that you can give them.

amother

Babyblue

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:48 am

Honestly, I can’t handle the heat and I would consider moving at this point. A month???

amother

Iris

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:49 am

Elfrida wrote:

Exactly this. Yes, your landlord should be dealing with this asap. But you need air conditioning in the hot summer. Can you deal with the repair yourself and inform the landlord of the expense?

banana123

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:57 am

Depends on the time of year. During a heatwave, I'd guess yes. That would still give him three days to fix it, though.

But, also, non-urgent fixes still need to be fixed within 30 days of you informing the landlord that it needs to be fixed.

Last edited by banana123 on Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:58 am; edited 1 time in total

Elfrida

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 5:58 am

If you don't want to deal with it, you can always buy a מזגן נייד. I was using one yesterday, and I was impressed at how effective it was. The down side is that they can be expensive, and you can only use them in one room at a time (and on Shabbos, only one room).

amother

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 6:29 am

If I pay for the repair, how would I take it off the rent if they have postdated checks?

grace413

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 6:31 am

It has been so incredibly hot and for so long.

OP, please tell the landlord it must be fixed immediately. If he doesn't take action, get it fixed and deduct from rent.

May be difficult to find an a/c technician on short notice.

Do you at least have fans?

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 6:40 am

When we were renting and our landlord would not fix things right away, we would fix them ourselves and then take the amount off of teh next months rent.
Is this an option? We had one landlord that was never around and it would take months for things to be fixed so we started doing this.
But I will say that depending on what the issue is with the ac, it may be your job to pay for the repair. Check your lease.

amother

Babyblue

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 6:47 am

Why does he think he can get away with not fixing the ac in the summer?? I understand it can take a few days but it shouldn’t take more than a week.
How did you manage on tisha B’Av?

amother

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 6:53 am

amother Babyblue wrote:

Why does he think he can get away with not fixing the ac in the summer?? I understand it can take a few days but it shouldn’t take more than a week.
How did you manage on tisha B’Av?

The AC in the main room is working, but the bedroom AC is not.

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 7:10 am

amother OP wrote:

The AC in the main room is working, but the bedroom AC is not.

OP, again, why dont you just fix the ac and take the amount off your rent or find out if this is something your lease says the landlord has to fix? If you aresuffering from the heat, get a technician in yourselves. Im not understanding the big dal here. We never waited for our landlords to fix things. we did it ourselves and "billed" them later.

amother

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 7:45 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

They don't want us to do that.
According to the lease it's the responsibility of the landlord.

amother

Babyblue

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 8:12 am

amother OP wrote:

They don't want us to do that.
According to the lease it's the responsibility of the landlord.

Can you ask them straight out?
Even If you decide to move, they will not be able to easily rent out the apartment with broken air conditioning.
They will have to fix it no matter what.

Bnei Berak 10

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 9:28 am

amother OP wrote:

If I pay for the repair, how would I take it off the rent if they have postdated checks?

Ask him to return one check to you and your issue him a new one.

amother

Maize

Fri, Jul 28 2023, 9:39 am

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

Ask him to return one check to you and your issue him a new one.

Ya. Because a landlord who didn't want to fix ac for months will do this