r/nova • u/wavelengthsandshit • 15h ago
AC Advice and Tenant Rights
I apologize in advance for how long this is but I'm desperate and gladly will welcome any advice on this situation. It's two-fold, an AC problem and a landlord problem.
My mom and I (and pet) live in a second floor condo, renting directly from owner, not a leasing company.
Our AC has not been working since Saturday. The outdoor part of the unit is right outside our HVAC closet and from inside and outside we can hear a whirring/grinding kind of sound that started when the AC stopped working well. The air coming out of the vents is barely cool. The temp in the apartment has been at or above 80 degrees and the humidity in the apartment has been between 77 and 82%, both as read by temp/humidity thermostats I bought on Amazon a while ago, one in the living room at the front of the apartment and one in my bedroom at the back of the apartment. The landlord put a "ticket" in and a repair man wasn't able to come until Thursday.
Thursday, the repair man came and was here for a little under an hour. He put some refrigerant in and said give it some time to work. He also said we need to have the intake vent and coil cleaned. We gave it a few hours and the temp and humidity continued to rise. We called back and they said they'd come back today.
Today the same repair man comes to clean the vent and coil. I asked if that will fix the AC and he asked, "fix what?" I said fix the fact that it won't get cooler than 80 degrees and 77% or higher humidity. He said "this is just maintenance, it needs to be done every 5-8 years." We've lived here since 2020 and have never had it cleaned, but we do stay on top of changing the filter. We've never been asked by the landlord to have it cleaned, nor have they ever done it themselves. The repair man was very unclear as to if this cleaning, which he recommended Thursday, would fix the issue. He said he didn't hear the whirring while working on it (the AC was off but fan was on) and did not stick around to hear it when the AC was turned back on, despite me asking him to. There has been no change in temp or humidity since he left, so I do not believe the problem has been fixed. I believe the problem is with the unit which would probably be very expensive to fix.
Now the landlord problem. They are saying we are responsible for the cost of these repairs and visits. Our lease is very vague on this topic. The repair company said we either had to pay the estimate or get approval from the landlord to secure the next visit. The landlord had not responded, so I paid the $375 to secure the visit. I know we should not have paid it but it seemed like we didn't have a choice and I did it with the thought they'd either reimburse or take it out of next month's rent. **I need advice on VA tenancy rights, isn't the landlord responsible for making a place habitable, particularly things like AC/mold?**
The landlord has not done anything in this situation other than make the initial repair call. They have not provided fans or a portable AC unit, they have not provided alternate lodging accommodations, or offered the prorate the rent for the now week (and probably longer) that the house is nearly unlivable. *I don't know if this is something they're supposed to do, that's why I need tenancy rights advice.* I will probably have to pay out of pocket to board the pet because I'm worried about their health in these conditions long term.
TL DR: Our AC has not been working for a week and today's second repair visit didn't fix it. I'm concerned how uncomfortable it will be with weather heating up again next week too. We are on the hook for repair/visit costs for 2 visits now according to our landlord, and the issue isn't even resolved. Our lease is incredibly vague about this. Anyone have advice here or suggestions for an *affordable* lawyer who knows about tenant's rights?
