My apartment complex turns the water off at least 2-3 times a month for "maintenance." Is this legal?

Question

They turn off the water all the time and i have kept notices so if i decided to break my lease, i will have reason to do so....I have to be to work at 3:30 because i am a park ranger and they cut the water of at 9:00-3:00, therefore, giving me no time to get myself together. Can they keep doing that, and all utilities are included but i just dont think that it is legal for them to consistently do that.

Answer 1

Yes they can, but the practice should not be excessive.  The reasonableness obviously would be decided by a judge.

If you are considering breaking your lease - you need to start a paper trail of certified letters to the owners.  They will likely give you written notice of outages so you can prepare.

Answer 2

I think you have a case for raising Cain, even if there is major remodeling going on there, and even if they have notified you properly. Why not organize the other tenants? Form a group and gather up all their complaints. Rank them and present them to the landlord as a must-fix list. I think you'll find your landlord more than willing to let you out early.

Plumbing maintenance? What is that? Are your pipes ancient? Do you see evidence that plumbers are tearing into walls to get at the pipes? Look around your complex at noon and find the plumbers eating lunch. Ask some questions.

There are shut-off valves all over a complex--you don't always have to shut off the main supply to do repairs on some portion.

Is it legal? Yes, and it's required that the landlord address plumbing problems. Why don't you ask around to discover the true nature of these outages?

Is it inconvenient? For you, and any stay-at-home tenants, yes. Maybe you can ask the landlord to shorten the outage window to restore water to your apartment by 2:30.

Answer 3

not as long as you are paying your utility bills.

Answer 4

They HAVE to turn the water off to maintain the plumbing.  It has nothing to do with you, just how plumbing works.  

It is perfectly legal for them to maintain the plumbing as long as they do it during normal business houses, which they do.    Most people are not home during this time, you are, but there are no special laws to cover you.

Answer 5

I'm only guessing here that it is. An apartment that I used to live at did it just as often, if not more, claiming that they were "fixing" things.