Renter seeking advice....

[Maddie Go]

my garage door broke at the house I am renting, I had real troubles opening and closing it but I just let it be, and I parked on the street most of the time. the office has never been good with repairing things in a timely manner, for example took 4 months of calling and asking for my heat to be fixed before it was. also the meters for electricity weren't divided correctly, and apparently there is a 3rd meter I have been paying for and that is under investigation. anyways, I had someone come out to fix our garage door so I could park in it since there was a snow emergency declared, and I didn't want my car to be towed again since there is no were else to park. can I ask the landlord to pay for it even thought I didn't put in a request before I had the repair done?

[Greg M.]

You can ask the landlord to pay for it. You can also ask him for a pony. I suspect he will be declining both requests.

It's rare situations where a tenant can force the landlord to reimburse them for a repair. It's usually for emergency conditions or after unanswered requests to make the place habitable. A still usable (you wrote real troubles opening and closing) even if very difficult to use garage door is not going to qualify. The fact that you failed to request a repair only compounds the unlikelihood of being reimbursed. 

Legally it appears that your landlord is in the clear and they would not be required to reimburse you for this, but if you are a good tenant, perhaps they would as a goodwill gesture.