Dishwasher on fritz; landlord ignores it

Q: My dishwasher has been broken for a year. I've asked my landlord many times to fix it and he says he will, but he doesn't. Please tell me there's a way to make him get this repair done.

A: Perhaps your best bet is to do what's called "repair and deduct," advises the Tenants Union of Washington State, a nonprofit tenant-rights organization. Repair and deduct allows you to get the work done yourself and deduct the cost of it from your next month's rent.

However you must carefully follow these steps; otherwise you could be considered in default on your rent. That would put you at risk of eviction.

First you must be current on your rent and utility payments. The Tenants Union says you can't use "repair and deduct" if you're even $1 behind.

Then you write your landlord a letter describing the needed repair and the estimated cost. This step is crucial. A verbal request doesn't obligate a landlord to fix the problem; only a written request accomplishes that.

You don't have to know how much the fix will actually cost; your best estimate is good enough. You may add that you'll do the repair if the landlord doesn't.

Date and sign the letter, keeping a photocopy. Either give it to the landlord in person or mail it certified mail, return receipt requested. Once your landlord receives this he has up to 10 days to start the repair (less if it involves a major health or safety feature — like no water, for example). If he doesn't begin work within the allotted time, you can do it yourself, or hire someone and pay the bill. Then you deduct the cost from your next rent and include the repair bill with your payment. (You can charge a reasonable amount for your labor if you do the work yourself.)

For more on the this topic, including what you can and can't "repair and deduct," see the Tenants Union Web site: www.tenantsunion.org.

Q: Someone told me FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] pays for reconstruction of homes and condominiums damaged in earthquakes if the owner doesn't have earthquake insurance — but only the first time it happens. If earthquake damage happens again, FEMA doesn't pay. Is this true?

A: Mike Howard, spokesman for the FEMA, says it's not true. Here's the deal: Federal help may be available if the disaster is large enough that the president OKs it. And there's no guarantee that an earthquake (or flood or tornado, for that matter) will rise to that standard. Most don't.

"If there's a presidential declaration for a given major disaster FEMA can provide assistance through the Individual Assistance Program to render a home safe and sanitary for the family to move back in while it's being repaired," Howard said.

FEMA can also provide rental assistance so the owners can live elsewhere while their home is being repaired.

Otherwise, the Small Business Administration provides long-term, low-interest loans to both individuals and businesses to do the actual rebuilding, Howard said.

Q: There is an entire group of people today who've never gone through a major recession. How will home prices be affected if we do have a recession like the pullback of 1974?

A: The recession of 1974, caused by high inflation and an oil crisis, took the wind out of the housing market. Homebuilding dropped 33 percent, according to Time magazine's Dec. 9, 1974 cover story. The Federal Reserve clamped down on the money supply. Mortgages became harder to afford.

But if we were to have a repeat of 1974, much more would happen because recessions cause widespread economic damage.

According to Time, inflation that year hit 11.5 percent, the New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 43 percent, new-car sales dropped 35 percent and massive job layoffs led to an unemployment rate nearing 7 percent.

Salaries couldn't keep up with inflation and disposable income fell for the first time in 30 years.

"Even people who have not yet been badly hurt by the recession are postponing everything from dry cleaning to divorce to save cash for the harder times they see coming," Time wrote.

Exactly what that meant for house prices is hard to know because data from that decade is sketchy.

We can say, however, what the local fallout was from two milder, more recent recessions: 1990-91 and 2001-2003. The rate of appreciation fell, but house prices in general didn't. Here are the numbers:

After rising 28.9 percent in 1990, King County single-family home prices basically flat-lined for the next three years, rising just 1.2 percent in 1991, 0.1 percent in 1992 and 1.7 percent in 1993. Then they began rebounding, culminating with 10.1 percent appreciation in 1999.

In 2000, King County's house prices went up 7.2 percent, followed by a 4.4 percent increase in 2001. In 2002 the recession deepened; appreciation slid to 3.9 percent — the lowest of the decade so far — then rose to 4.2 percent in 2003.

We could have a repeat of 1974, given the right conditions. However if we do, a drop in house prices will be only one part of a larger downturn.

Home Forum answers readers' real-estate questions. Send questions to Home Forum, Seattle Times, P.O. Box 1845, Seattle, WA 98111, or call 206-464-8510 to leave a question on a recorded line. The e-mail address is erhodes@seattletimes.com. Sorry, no personal replies. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists.