How Long Can a Landlord Shut Off Water For Repairs

Maintaining apartments and rental buildings in proper shape is demanding, and when damage arises, your landlords may be genuinely struggling to put everything back in place. However, when they shut off water for too long, the apartment can become inhabitable.

When this happens, your landlord should find solutions to help you avoid inconveniences. Genuine landlords will compensate you or find you a place to live in the meantime, pay you, or allow you to leave the lease without a penalty. In this guide, we'll discuss how long a landlord can and what you can do with DoNotPay to ensure fair treatment by your landlord.

Does My Landlord Have to Warn Me Before Shutting Off Water?

Your landlord shouldn't shut off water to your apartment without notice unless it's an emergency. If they shut off the water, inform them that you'd like a 24-hour notice before the .

If they still shut off the water, and you don't get prior notice, tell them that you'll hold them responsible for damages that may occur as a result.

How Long Does My Landlord Have to Do Repairs?

Depending on the type of repairs, your landlord can cut off water for up to 30 days. If the repairs are critical, they must fix them within 3 to 7 days, but they can take a month to fix non-critical repairs.

In case of an emergency, the landlord must make repairs within 24 hours. Unless there's an emergency, you don't have to allow the landlord access to your property to make repairs.

In case they must cut off your water for an extended period to make repairs, you should discuss a remedy to avoid any inconveniences.

They can:

Put you in a hotel and pay for you or deduct your monthly fees to cover expenses
Let you out of the lease and compensate for the months you stayed without water
Provide an alternative source of water

However, they cannot turn the water back on if it is turned off for repairs.

How to Ask Your Landlord for Repairs

Your landlord should make repairs and renovations to an apartment before you get in. However, if there are additional repairs, it's good to ask politely, preferably in writing.

Making written requests can help you make your legal rights to repairs easier. Here are key things you should consider to ensure they make the necessary repairs:

Make sure that the repairs are the landlord's responsibility
Document the problem well
Ask your landlord to make repairs
Wait for the landlord's response

Resolve Issues With Your Landlord with the help of DoNotPay

Sometimes your landlord may continuously ignore your claims despite being their fault. When this happens, you can seek professionals to push them to settle your issues.

DoNotPay is here to guide you through resolving issues with your landlord and filing your disputes on your behalf. Our Landlord Protection product can help you:

Get back your security deposits
Learn about your state's eviction laws and what protections apply in your case
Resolve disputes regarding repairs with your landlord
Resolve disputes with roommates by filing demand letters or going through small claims court
Break your lease early

How to Break a Lease Agreement Using DoNotPay:

If you want to break a lease agreement but don't know where to start, DoNotPay has you covered in 4 easy steps:

Search for and open the Landlord Protection product on DoNotPay.

Select which issue applies to you.
Answer a simple set of questions so our chatbot can collect the necessary information to create your demand letter.
Choose whether you want DoNotPay to send the demand letter to your landlord or roommate on your behalf. If you already tried sending a demand letter and it didn't work, we can help you start the small claims court process.

And that's it! You should hear back from your landlord directly once your demands are sent.

Why Use DoNotPay to Settle Issues With Your Landlord

Fighting with your landlord can be difficult, ending with brawls and blame games that don't result in anything. If you want to resolve an issue with your landlord, you can get DoNotPay to dispute your cases for you.

DoNotPay will ensure that the process is:

Fast—You don't have to spend hours trying to settle an argument with a difficult landlord
Easy—You don't have to struggle to fill out tedious forms or keep track of all the steps involved in settling your issue in your apartment
Successful—You can rest assured knowing we'll make the best case for you

Other DoNotPay Services that Help Renters with Landlord Disputes

The landlord services DoNotPay provides go well beyond basic eviction resolutions. Some of the other services DoNotPay provides include

Sue landlord for deposit issues	Booting roommates	Handling eviction threats
Security deposit small claims court returns	Repair demand letters	Security deposit periods

What Else Can DoNotPay Do?

In addition to protecting you from your landlord, we can help you settle other pressing legal cases you may be struggling with.

Here are some resources about cases we help people settle:

While a landlord can cut off your water for up to 30 days, they should find ways to remedy the issue for you. They can find a habitable place for you or pay you for inconveniences. If you're dealing with a stubborn landlord, DoNotPay can help you settle on reasonable agreements faster. Register today to learn how we can help you.