[Virginia, USA] How much time does a landlord have to make repairs? legaladvice

Under the Virginia Landlord tenant act, § 55-248.13, it's stated that the landlord must

• "Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition;"
• "Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by him"

If a major appliance goes out (such as refrigerator, washer/dryer, stove), how long after notification does the landlord have to repair or replace the item?

I'm asking for a friend. She and her roommate came home from work on Monday to find that their fridge had completely stopped working. They notified the landlord immediately and were told "having a fridge is a luxury, we'll get it fixed when we can, plenty of people don't have them". The last time they tried to reach their landlord for an emergency, the landlord didn't even acknowledge their attempts to contact for three days. Their washer/dryer has been unusable for over a month.

So now it's Wednesday, almost 48 hours since they've notified their landlord about the fridge. The technician they called said that the motor is running, but the chiller is completely shot, and is unfixable and the entire fridge needs to be replaced. They've been told by their landlord "it might get replaced on Saturday" because again, a fridge is a luxury item. In the meantime, all the food inside was ruined, and they don't have a way to keep food cold (thank goodness neither of them has any medications that need to be kept chilled).

I don't know if fridges are considered a "necessary" appliance in the legal world. I personally would consider it as necessary. I'm fairly certain that washers/dryers are not considered necessary. But the time frame on these repairs seems almost negligent. The landlord is not offering any kind of reimbursement or reduction of rent, even though use of these appliances is included as part of their rent.

TL;DR: If a major appliance goes out (specifically refrigerator), how much time after notification does the landlord reasonably have to repair or replace the item?

Submitted September 28, 2016 at 10:22PM by trashlikeyourmom http://ift.tt/2d9Ugls legaladvice