What are my rights if the elevator is out of service for almost 3 weeks?

Questioner

I live on the 7th floor and have a baby and an elderly father. It is simply not possible to take the stairs all the time. The tenant keeps saying that they are waiting for parts, but I cannot imagine that this should take weeks. For example, am I entitled not to pay service costs? Since they have not done much in terms of service this month. Plus, we have been having trouble with a noisy elevator for a long time. This was reported weeks ago and now that they have tried to fix it, we are without an elevator. Please advise.

Lawyer

A landlord must be given the opportunity to correct defects to solve. You can give him a deadline in writing, but as I understand it he is invoking force majeure. I am not sure if that is correct, parts can also be bought elsewhere perhaps. In the letter you can also indicate that if the deadline has expired you will not pay part of the costs due to a reduction in the enjoyment of the home.

Lawyer

I understand that you do not conclude from the above text that it is better at this time to give the landlord written notice of default and then grant a short period of time to remedy the situation, after which you will have other rights such as a reduction in the rent.