If he's withholding rent due to the leak and preventing you from repairing it, the court (if it gets to that) is not going to look favourably on him....now that I read Bruce's SECOND post...I just typed out what he said (doh!!).

The Legislature's intent was to help prevent homelessness, but I only see this as increasing costs and reducing flexibility. 

My response has been that a professional does preventative maintenance annually and confirms working order of the AC.

Would love to learn what happened Mike, were always looking to improve our service for our clients and if I can learn what went wrong, I can prevent it from happening in our firm! 

Is it because:* California or local municipality laws prevent this?

A pet fee or rent may give someone the impression that "they already paid for the damage" so they're unwilling to prevent it. 

We have MANY fail safes built into the operating agreement that would help prevent what you are going through.

Most buyers and investors say 'ASAP' so we then ask a follow-up, 'if we agree on terms today, is there anything that would prevent you from signing the contract today'.

There would have to be a lease agreement in place for the entire term, that should prevent any issues I imagine?

A new roof can prevent potential issues during the appraisal process, ensuring that the property qualifies for various loan programs, including FHA or VA loans, which often have stricter criteria.