Nc tenant issues
Hi everyone! Location: Raleigh, NC
We are currently renting, and have had problem after problem. Washer and fridge breaking, disintegrating cabinets, etc. that being said, we have had two major problems: our HVAC system going out in January, and now our water heater leaking/possibly exploding. Long read, but we are trying to figure out what/if any rights we have at this point, as I am pregnant and with the most recent issue (water heater), we cannot even sleep in our primary bedroom.
With our HVAC system, we let the landlord know on Tuesday, January 6th, 2026 that the auxiliary heat was permanently running. We figured this out because our bill was double what it should have been in December. Here was the repair schedule:
January 6th: reached out regarding Auxiliary heat running and our bill being high
January 13th: company came out, did not look at the HVAC system, said 100% replacing the thermostat would fix it- recommended the Ecobee specifically
January 22nd: WE paid for the Ecobee thermostat to be installed by; had to wait to be able to pay for it ourselves as the landlord would not cover the recommended thermostat
January 23rd: Ecobee was installed
February 3rd: Ecobee was still running on Auxiliary heat, we reached out again. Landlord said when we got a normal bill , electric company could help and that landlord would credit some to assist. We sent pictures of the thermostat constantly being on Aux Heat
February 4th: Heat broke completely and would not come on. OG company never responded, ended up calling second company. House was sitting at 51 degrees in snow storm.
February 5th: company 2 came out, diagnosed coil and thermostat not firing properly
February 6th: Owner denied fixing the coil due to cost being high
February 7th: was told thermostat was still installed incorrectly by company 1 by landlord family friend, could not fix coil until they came back out; could not get a hold of them due to them not picking up the phone
February 12th: company 1’s earliest time to come check thermostat, said it was installed correctly
February 13th: Landlord family friend fixed coil
February 15th: Heat stopped turning on again- would not get above 54
February 16th: landlord dropped off space heater. COMPANY 3 was contacted
February 17th: company 3 came out, diagnosed circuit breaker issue
February 18th: officially repaired by company 3
Now our current issue: our water heater shed is an add-on after buying attached to the house, sharing a wall directly with the primary bedroom and kitchen. The wall on the kitchen side has fireproof paper with brick behind it, the wall attached to the bedroom has just house siding. On Friday, we found the closet it is in full of 6 inches of water with the water heater leaking, covered in mold. We have not lost water heat or pressure somehow. The landlord came to look, saw the insulation had fallen and the mold, and said she would contact the house owner. Saturday, the wall in the primary bedroom started bubbling from moisture, we reported it to landlord. Sunday, I reached out to landlord following up as we had not heard anything regarding water remediation or a fix for the water heater. Officially today we have heard back that a company will be contacted but they do not know when someone will get out here. Several issues- the water is spawning TONS of mosquitos, to the point where we almost cannot take our dog outside. Also, when the insulation in that closet fell, the owner of the house had chemicals (we did not use closet), and now just sitting in the water is chemicals- presumably also now permeating the primary bedroom wall as well.