If one is renting an office in a office building and something happens structurally like a roof issue,air conditioner breakdown or plumbing backup….. And this happens for weeks,months and the landlord refuses to repair it .
The unit is unrentable ,unusable —but yet the tenant has some use for its mail or phone forwarding ….how much is that unit owner responsible for rent in such conditions .
The lease contract doesn’t specify any repair clause in general, but usually structually is a general rule is coverered by landlord.
Answer:
In principle, if a unit beomes untenable, and was rented as a liveable or workable unit, the landlord must repair the structural issues such as the roof and so on, and the tenant does not have to pay rent until the repairs are carried out.
However, if the tenant continued to make use of the unit, without complaining to the landlord, this will be considered as a foregoing of the problems, and rent must be paid.
If a complaint was posted, many authorities write that rent will not have to be paid. At the same time, because the tenant has continued to use it for a particular purpose, some payment will have to be made, based on an evaluation of how much the service he derived from the unit is worth.
In principle, this evaluation will be made by a Beis Din, but it is advisable to reach some compromise with the landlord, and save the hassle of going to Beis Din.
Best wishes.
[Based on Choshen Mishpat 232.]
