Build a Code-Compliant Record for Unresolved Rental Repairs

  1. Read your lease for repair and notice clauses
    30 min

    Find your lease before you do anything else. It is usually in the tenant portal (look under Documents or Lease), in the email thread where you signed it, or in the paper copy from move-in. If you cannot find it, ask the landlord or property manager for a copy in writing — a missing lease slows you down but does not stop the process.

    Read it once for these four items:

    • Repair and maintenance clauses: what the landlord must fix, who to notify, and how fast.
    • The landlord's legal name and contact details: the entity you will serve notice to, not just the front-office address.
    • The notice clause: the exact address, email, or portal where written notice must be sent.
    • Any promised response time, such as “repairs within 14 days of written notice.”