That’s good for you. I have my systems serviced regularly to avoid potential problems as well as heaters and AC units for system failures. The extra mile is certainly appreciated, but no one is a bad landlord for being unable to predict major heat outages over a cold snap. At some point it goes from reasonable expectation to tenants expecting better treatment than one can expect to give themselves simply because they are tenants. There’s a difference between one heater going out because of lack of maintenance and state-wide heat emergencies due to the weather.

You must not be paying attention to some of these conversations. By the way, the OP does have a space heater. What else shall this landlord offer to this specific tenant?

I am a landlord, yes. I am also a tenant and have been a tenant longer than I have been a landlord. The home I am in actively has no heat. I would never expect my landlord to magically fix a problem on Christmas Day. That is completely unrealistic. I set up my heaters, discussed a game plan with the landlord, and have set my expectations accordingly. It’s not their fault that no contractor in the area is available on a major holiday.

You did indeed post a document with how to handle this situation as a tenant. My response was to the person above, not to you.

How are you supposed to plan for heat going out over a major holiday weekend when contractors aren’t working? Are they supposed to have a contractor that specializes in everything on retainer and on call? I hope when someone is bestowing an unrealistic expectation on you, you remember this conversation and apply the same words you put on someone else onto yourself.

What, pray tell, shall the landlord do for this tenant…who has stated they have a source of heat?

It’s terrible advice to tell someone to go straight to legal when they are encountering an issue over the holidays. There aren’t many judges or attorneys that will support an argument that the landlords should be able to magically fix the problem on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The better suggestion would be to advise OP to speak with the landlord about possible solutions, like reimbursing a space heater. You can’t threaten legal action without first attempting to mitigate damages. It’s a poorly thought out strategy.

Yeah…it’s the holidays. People aren’t really working over the holidays. It happens. I am continuously shocked by people who think landlords can just bend contractors to their whim. They are right. They can’t help that the heat went out so close to a holiday. What are they supposed to do? They can’t just snap their fingers and make things happen. I am a homeowner without heat and I can’t get anyone to fix my heater until Tuesday. You know what I did? I bought four space heaters and set them up in my house to sustain until the repair can be made. That’s life. We adapt and overcome. The landlords aren’t bad landlords just because they can’t get a contractor to fix your heat right now.