Problem with rental company

Ask to speak to the highest ranking person in charge.

Does a threat to withhold part of the rent work?

Nancy, based on my experiences (multiple times, with multiple landlords), yes. In similar situations (not necessarily appliance-specific), I've done the following:

1) call the highest ranking person I can, make it clear that the situation is unacceptable, and make it clear that you will take matters into your own hands if it's not, although I would avoid explicit threats.

2) Write a very polite letter explaining the problem, perhaps with a chronology, if possible. Explain that I am witholding all of the rent until the problem is solved, at which point I will pay, but will deduct for the time that the problem persisted - i.e. the longer they wait to address, the more I will deduct. Reference the applicable, or semi-applicable section of my lease, or NYC law, which should be relatively easy to find.

3) Follow though on the threat in the letter.

You may need to tailor the specific approach to the type of company, people you're dealing with, your relationship with landlord, your interest in renewing at the end of your lease, your personality, etc., but that's been my basic approach. To be clear, I've only had to resort to this 2-3 times, I don't go around picking fights. But unfortunately, sometimes hardball is the only way to get someone's attention.

I'M NOT A LAWYER but my understanding is that you must put the rent in an escrow account if you are not paying it to the landlord snd that you can deduct the cost of fixing or replacing the appliance if the landlord doesn't address the issue BUT each jurisdiction is different & you should get some sort of legal advice before you do anything drastic.

Thanks all for the advice. I will try to contact a higher ranking person at the management company first and see where that gets me. I will use the rent escrow approach next, but hopefully it will not get to that. Since I’ve always paid my rent on time I would not like an incident like this degrade my credit rating.

Make sure you keep good records. If you need to withhold rent, check your credit rating. You are allowed to explain any oddities.

drdrd is probably right legally, but practically, my approach has worked without any sort of escrow, and i've never had a negative impact on my credit.

nb99, I think that you are absolutely correct & that is the way to go; hopefully that will be all that is needed. Personally I don't think that I would even mention not paying the rent until I spoke to some housing authority or an attorney because that is ramping up hostilities & I'd want to know the rules.

Nancy, let us know how it goes. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice. Another service visit has been scheduled – I’ll take another half day off from work. After 2 failed attempts I have little confidence, but decided to give it one more try before demanding a new stove. Will let you know how it works out.