4 replies to this topic

[terwilliger]

Hi, I rented an apartment a couple of months ago.  I found the ad on Craigslist.  The ad said "A/C," and when we asked the landlord about it, he told us there was central air.  But there is no central air.  There is no air conditioning.

The landlord has shown himself to be a jerk; when a window fell out of its frame, shattering the glass, he told me I would have to replace it.  "You shouldn't have opened the window," he said.

I would like to find a legal recourse that allows me to put pressure on my landlord.  I don't want to break the lease and move out.  Is it fraud to claim an apartment has air conditioning when it doesn't?  Is there a legal way to pressure him to put in air conditioning, or allow me to buy air conditioners and subtract their cost from my rent?

Should I contact the state Attorney General?  Should I threaten to?

In Denver, Colorado.  Thanks any and all for your assistance.

[pg1067]

Didn't you inspect the apartment before moving in?  If you had done so, I have to assume the lack of air conditioning would have been readily apparent.

What you described could be fraud.  However, reasonable reliance is an essential element of a fraud claim.  If you inspected the premises, then a court could conclude that you did not rely on the landlord's false representation.

If you don't want to get out of the lease, then your recourse would be to sue for the difference between the apartment as represented versus what you are paying in rent.

[FindLaw_AHK]

Does your lease state that an A/C is present in the unit? You may want to consult with a local Denver, Colorado Landlord-Tenant Lawyer to advise you of your options.

[terwilliger]

####, yes, we inspected the apartment.  There are air vents, and the landlord told us that there was central air, which would have come through the air vents from parts of the building that were locked. (Our landlord owns this one condo, not the whole building.)

But it turns out that the air vents are connected to nothing.  There's no central air in the building.  The thermostat doesn't turn on any air conditioning or heat.  It's there for show. 

####, no, the lease doesn't formally state that there's an air conditioner.  But aren't there laws regarding false claims made to renters?  Thank you for the referring link.

[pg1067]

http://forums.prospe.../0/5/quote.icon); PADDING-BOTTOM: 5em; LINE-HEIGHT: 1.5em; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #f5f5f5; FONT-STYLE: italic; MARGIN: 0.5em; PADDING-LEFT: 65px; PADDING-RIGHT: 40px; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: no-repeat; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 39px 9px; COLOR: #666; FONT-SIZE: 90%; PADDING-TOP: 0.5em" class="ptMsgQuote">terwilliger said...

But aren't there laws regarding false claims made to renters?