Rental Maintenance Issues

Critical maintenance issues have to be addressed even if a tenant is behind in rent? For example, a tenant who is being evicted for non-payment of rent still has the right to a working heating system. Furthermore, while the Washington State Landlord/Tenant Act restricts the actions a tenant can take to force a landlord to make general repairs if the rent is not current, the tenant may claim that the rent hasn’t been paid because the work wasn’t done.