Rental Housing Committee largely affirms hearing officer in Washington appeal, remands part of window award

Mountain View’s Rental Housing Committee voted to adopt the tentative appeal decision in petitions 242522 and 242523, related to tenant Mary Ann Washington’s claims for rent reductions on habitability grounds, and remanded part of the hearing officer’s award for further explanation.

The committee voted to affirm the hearing officer’s findings that the unit’s repeatedly clogged toilet justified a 4% rent reduction from Sept. 1, 2021, through Jan. 1, 2025, and an ongoing $117.98 monthly reduction until the condition is corrected. The committee also affirmed that a recurring leaky dining-room window constituted a decrease in housing services, but it remanded the size and period of that award to the hearing officer because the record did not show how seasonal (rainy vs. dry) occurrence of the leak was accounted for. The hearing officer had ordered a 2% reduction from Jan. 1, 2017, through Jan. 31, 2025, and an…