Landlord Failed To Fix Heat Pump For A Year, Now Gave Me 60 Days Notice To Vacate After Refusing To Pay High Electric Usage From Furnace.

Location: Maryland

TLDR: notified landlord a year previously about heat pump problems, landlord failed to repair for a year, blames me for high electric bill, i refuse to pay outrageous bill but still pay the same rate she told me i owed. She threatens shut off and i tell her i will with hold rent from her through escrow if she does. Electric doesnt get shut of but Gets 60 days notice to vacate.

So this started in June of 2025 during a 100° heat wave. 3 bed 1 bath roughly 900sq ft or so . My gf and I (6 year tennant) complained to our landlord that it felt like hot air was coming out of the vent when it should of been cold as the ac would of been on. It took 2 days for a hvac tech to come out and I guess she had them check the ac as it was starting to build ice on the lines going inside. She texted that she made sure that they didn't need inside the attic (where the furnace is that we don't have access too). The hvac tech told my gf that its just hot and the unit was struggling to cool the apartment down.

A few weeks go by and temps drop to 80°. We verbally tell her it still feels hot in the apartment and she just gives the answer that its the unit struggling to cool it down and its an old metal barn. A month or 2 goes by and she says that our electric usage has gone up drastically from $200 (900kwh) a month to a $1,100(5,000kwh). We tell her that we haven't plugged anything new in besides a window ac unit. We have 2 tvs 2 xboxs, a fan we plug in at night and normal amenities like dishwasher, washer and dryer(stopped using the dryer and hang clothes to dry). She tells us to only pay $300 a month till she figures it out and we do as $300 it seems reasonable.

The electric is not in our name, its in her name and we've paid what shes asked as always. Fast foward to March and we text her now the kitchen sink has started eroding from hard water, and the bathroom sink is starting to as well. We also have a bathroom faucet for the bathroom if she wanted to use it. She says she'll get her guy to come out and replace it. I also inform her to have him check the furnace as i beleive both the ac and furnace are runing at the same time. She says will do.

May comes and i text her asking what electric damage is and she tells me same as ive been paying($300). June comes and she texted us that she had someone come look at electrical (i guess private company)and shes gonna find out what they got but she never told us what they found. She also texted that she was gonna have the hvac guy come and check furnace along with the power company to check meter to make sure its working right. Fast foward to early july she texted that the hvac guy was finally coming out tomorrow and she'd need access to the apartment. I said sure as we weren't gonna be there and she could go in. Come to find out both the furnace and ac were running simultaneously more than likely that entire year.

Fast foward to end of september and she texts that the gas company is gonna turn off the power as they've been given shut off notices again and i need to pay more. She said there were 2 options, go on a payment plan of pay the reduced balance of $6k(full balance is $10k). We texted her back and said we did not feel like we owed this as this would be on failure from first hvac tech, her and the electric company as none of them could figure it out. I asked for the electric companies usage chart for last 2 years and it showed from exact month i complained about it being hot to the time of repair of high usage and low usage 2 month after repair. She texted us that the final shut off will be in mid october.

I told her that this is not our bill as our normal usage has shown the 900kwh per month the year previously and the return of normal usage for the 2 months after.

2 days before shut off she texts me to check the addendum to lease for electric and services. I cant find it so i ask her to send a pic of what shes seeing that im not. I also tell her that if she turns off the electric it would be a violation of warranty of habitability after finding out that its illegal to let electric be shut off in our state, i also told her that the year without a proper runing furnace was a violation of warranty of habitability. She texts back on shut off day with her copy of the addendum and it is not signed or dated by either party. 2 hours later she stick a 60 days notice on my door which is illegal as its retaliation for a tennant using tenant rights.

There is also a few other repairs that haven't been made after complaining.

Do I have a case as everything is documented or take the eviction.