We’re in the middle of a two-year lease for an apartment and we don’t know if we can make it to the end of the lease. Since we signed the contract, the oven broke, the showerhead leaks, and the ceiling fan – which was essential since the air conditioner is slowly dying – stopped spinning.  We’ve tried to contact the landlord many times, but he has yet to respond in any substantial way. He tells me he’ll look into it, his maintenance guy will come tomorrow, etc. etc.

Q: We feel like there is nothing we can do to force him to make these repairs. Is there anything we can halachically do to remedy this miserable situation?

A: Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 312:17) discusses the responsibility of a landlord to provide a replacement residence for a tenant in the event that the house collapses. In that discussion, Shulchan Aruch mentions that if the house is still basically intact but dangerous to live in, the landlord is obligated to make the necessary repairs. One caveat Shulchan Aruch adds to this halacha is that he must make the repairs if he received rent money in advance. Sema (312:32) suggests that the additional stipulation means: if the landlord received rent money in excess of the rent that was due to that date (i.e. he took three months’ rent up front and the tenant has only been in the apartment for two months), the landlord must use those additional funds to make the necessary repairs.

Nesivos Hamishpat (312:11) suggests a different interpretation. In the agreement between the two parties, the landlord committed to rent only this particular apartment – ‘bayis zeh’. This means that the rent, which is a byproduct of the apartment, must be applied towards the maintenance of the apartment. As such, not only when the tenant paid rent in advance must that money be used to repair the apartment, but even if money was not paid in advance, the tenant has the right to withhold future rent payments to cover the cost of repairs.

Accordingly, if you contacted your landlord to make repairs that are his obligation and he does not make those repairs, you have the right to make the necessary repairs and pay for them with your monthly rental payments.