HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — You don’t need us to tell you: it’s hot outside!<\/p>\n
And every summer, ABC13 hears from viewers like you whose air conditioning has gone out.<\/p>\n
There is no state law that specifically guarantees air conditioner to renters, but for a lot of you, a broken A\/C isn’t just uncomfortable; it’s a major health and safety hazard.<\/p>\n
And that means there are some protections available.<\/p>\n
“Always start with keeping your rent paid. Once you don’t pay, some of the protections could go away,” University of Houston Law Civil Justice Clinic Director Ryan Marquez said.<\/p>\n
Marquez said that if your A\/C goes out, contact your landlord immediately in writing and keep contacting them until it’s fixed.<\/p>\n
If nothing gets fixed, he recommended taking the case to court.<\/p>\n
“They can always request actual damages, sometimes a rent reduction from the day of the first notice,” he said. “If you live in the city limits, that requires that the unit be cooled to either 80 degrees or less than 20 degrees from the outside temperature, so if the outside temperature is 105, then it would be 85 degrees.”<\/p>\n
“That is one of the remedies that the judge can grant,” he said. “I would not recommend it without the judge granting it because if you do that and you’re wrong and the judge later on says that was only 95 degrees, so that doesn’t cut health and safety, you could be responsible for your rent at your old place as well.”<\/p>\n
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