Tenant Laws: Broken water pipe, do I get compensated for having to go to a hotel?

My building suffered a plumbing issue. My downstairs neighbor complained of flooding, the plumber confirmed that it is my apartment’s plumbing that has broken. We’re currently figuring out if it’s just our hot water or any water at all which causes the problem.

The plumber offered two fixes, one which is proper and comprehensive and involves tearing up my unit’s floor, and another which is quick and dirty and involves adding ugly piping in my kitchen.

1) In the case that I cannot use water at all until the repair is done, do tenant laws provide precedent on whether I should be compensated for having to stay at a hotel? My contract does not.seem to provide clarity on this situation.

2) If they do the hacky fix and add ugly pipes to my kitchen, do I have a case to request a rent modification to account for that permanent change?

So far our landlord has been easy to work with so I am hoping they will act reasonably, but I want to know what the law says in this case.

2 comments
  1. Pretty sure they only need to provide an “equivalent” accommodation if your house is unlivable and you wouldn’t get compensation, but not a lawyer

  2. 1.) You should be compensated for having to stay in a hotel since your home is unlivable without water.

    2.) I would think that they would only have to bring the building repairs and renovations up to code, whether Taro’s DIY jerry rigged plumbing qualifies you’d have to consult some kind of building inspector.

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