Habitability

Every landlord in San Diego must keep a rental livable, including working plumbing, heat, hot water, and electricity, and a home free of pests, serious dampness, visible mold, and lead hazards. If your landlord won’t make repairs, ask your local code enforcement office to inspect, and know your options: California law may let you repair and deduct, bar your landlord from collecting rent in some cases, defend against an eviction, and recover money damages.

Sometimes, but it is risky. In California, a tenant’s duty to pay rent depends on the landlord keeping the home livable. If your landlord sues to evict you for unpaid rent, you can defend yourself by proving a serious habitability problem, and the court can lower your rent to what the unit was actually worth. But if the court decides the problem wasn’t serious enough, or you can’t pay the reduced back rent by the court’s short deadline, your landlord wins and you can lose your home. California law also gives tenants other options, and it’s worth getting advice before you stop paying.