Know your rights when it comes to apartment heating laws.
Imagine you have just found your dream apartment with a central location, walk-in closets and a great price. The landlord even pays for the utilities. However, when winter comes, the owner-paid heater is either not working or not heating up your apartment sufficiently. Unfortunately, this happens all too often, and many tenants do not know which apartment heating laws are in effect to help them. It can get confusing since laws vary by city, county and state.
Temperatures
Area regulations regarding heating temperature requirements, during the cold season, differ. New York City requires that between October 1st and May 31st that the temperature in the apartment be no lower than 68 degrees Fahrenheit if it is less than 55 degrees outside between 6 in the morning and 10 at night. During the night, if the temperature goes below 40 degrees, it must be 55 degrees at the minimum in the apartment. The state of New Jersey requires that the nighttime temperature inside the apartment be no lower than 65 degrees. Massachusetts requires that daytime temperatures also be at 68 degrees while the evening minimum is 64.
Repair
If the heater is not working in the apartment, the tenant must give ample notice to the landlord, preferably in writing, regarding the need for repair. If the landlord does not respond in a reasonable amount of time (this varies by region), the tenant should contact the local housing authority. Each region has its own government agency to deal with residential complaints, typically through the board of health or housing inspectors. If the landlord does not respond in a realistic amount of time--determined by the local housing authority--he may be assessed hefty fines, penalties and, in some regions, jail time.
Rent
In some areas, such as Maryland, the next step a tenant can take, if repairs are not made, is to put his rent payments into an escrow account set up through the district court until the landlord makes the repairs. Massachusetts law permits the tenant to withhold a "reasonable" but non-specific portion of the rent until the problem is resolved. Withholding rent should be done with great caution as the landlord can still try to evict for non-payment. Withholding the rent should also only be done after first notifying the landlord of the problem in writing and allowing him time to repair the issue so there is legal evidence of inaction on his part to prevent potential eviction procedures. Many areas such as New York City, however, do not permit withholding rent to get the repairs done; doing so gives the landlord grounds to evict.
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