Keeping landlords under wraps, within their rights

Hello Amy,

I have this problem. The roof on my apartment is leaking something fierce and no one seems to be responsible for it. I have talked to the rental office and they say they don't own the building and have added us to the list of, including us, 34 with roof leaks. Apparently this list is a couple of months old and nothing has been done about it. Lucky for us, the leak is located above our bathtub, so it's not causing any inconvenience at the moment. However, the leak is bad and the ceiling is very wet and yup, you guessed it, it's ready to cave at any moment. It would not be a pretty sight if I were taking a shower, got conked in the head with the ceiling and they had to haul my naked body to the hospital. So, my question to you is this: What would Amy do in such a situation?

-- Randee

Amy would go to the rental office, kick in the door, and force those lousy slumlords to live in their own buildings while she lived for free in some palatial penthouse with a view, staffed by buff cabana boys bearing drinks with little umbrellas in them. Yes ... umbrellas.

But I digress. I'm pretty confident that this is illegal, based on my reading of the Washington state Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RCW 59.18). In other words, the part that says that the landlords are obligated to "maintain all the structural components of the dwelling in reasonably good repair" is really just a fancy way of saying that they/he needs to make sure you do not risk bodily injury every time you strip down and take a shower.

So far, so good -- this means you have some options. Of course, just because something is illegal doesn't mean that it is easy to get anyone to do anything about it. Especially if your landlord has figured out that poor tenants (like students) are easily exploited since they have so few resources.

But all is not lost. One handy resource you should avail yourself of right away is some free legal advice and low-cost legal representation. On campus, we have this wondrous resource called Student Legal Services, conveniently located in HUB G-16 (you have to call 543-6486 first to make an appointment).

If for some reason your landlord is also a UW student who managed to hire Student Legal Services first, you still have options. The Tenant's Union (TU) has loads of information on its Web site (www.tenantsunion.org) including an online brochure written just for you called, "Repairs: Landlords' Obligations and Tenants' Remedies." According to the TU, as appealing as it may be to just pay for the repairs yourself and deduct the cost from your rent payment, this could come back to bite you on the behind by giving the evil slumlord grounds for evicting you. You can do this, but there are strict guidelines you need to follow involving letter-writing and other documentation.

Finally -- and this is a last ditch, only if there are no other options available to you recommendation -- apply for an interest-free short-term loan from the Financial Aid Office (do this online through MyUW) and move because sometimes the bad people do win.