Bad move-in experience, what should I do? (Arlington, VA)

I moved into my new unit in Arlington, VA on Friday the 26th (I will keep the building’s name unsaid for privacy reasons) and it’s just been one issue after another.

My immediate concern when opening up the unit at around noon was that the unit was not in the condition that I was promised when touring the building two months ago. The A/C unit in my apartment was missing a vent and not producing cool air at, the emergency sprinklers were (and still are) coated in thick clumps of dust, and there’s painters tape still in the bathroom. I verbally notified the staff about the AC unit, and when returning later that day to start moving my personal items in, I saw that a vent cover was installed but there was still no cooling AC, and since the staff doesn’t work on weekends, I would not have AC for the entire weekend either.

While moving furniture in with hired help on Saturday, I also discovered multiple power sockets not working, the toilet failing to stop running, and that the parking spot they assigned me didn’t even exist! I started reading through my lease agreement on Sunday to see if there were any ways to address my grievances, and I learned that I was entitled to both a mail room key, which I was not given, and an inventory sheet to detail any defects of the apartment, which I was not given despite the lease explicitly stating that I was to entitled to receive the inventory sheet prior to or at my move-in time. Up until tonight, I spent the weekend sleeping at my empty old apartment on an inflatable mattress to have air considering, but now that lease has expired and I’m having to sleep in my new unit, which is hot and humid as hell, and I’m now staring down a forecast this week of multiple 100 degree Fahrenheit highs.

By this point, I have asked for, received, and filled in my Inventory and Condition form, submitted maintenance requests for every issue I have with the apartment so that these issues are documented in writing, and have documented this issues with photos and videos as well. Maintenance came by today and said that fixing the A/C will require a “blower motor” and can be done by the end of Tuesday, however I no longer trust them to do their job.

I’ve looked through my options, and if my A/C isn’t working by Wednesday night, then I’m seriously considering trying to invoke Virginia’s Uninhabitable Unit code (55.1-1234.1), which states that “If, at the beginning of the tenancy, a condition exists in a rental dwelling unit that constitutes a fire hazard or serious threat to the life, health, or safety of tenants or occupants of the premises…the tenant shall be entitled to terminate the rental agreement and receive a full refund of all deposits and rent paid to the landlord, so long as the tenant provides the landlord with written notice of his intent to terminate the rental agreement within seven days of the date on which possession of the dwelling unit was to have transferred to the tenant.” I figure that not having A/C upon move-in during the middle of a summer heat-wave might be considered as life-threatening (especially since another part of the lease explicitly calls it an “emergency” if my A/C stops working), and that the thick clumps of dust on the emergency sprinklers constitutes a fire hazard.

Now, for the main reason I made the post (other than to vent) is that I need advice from other people. Am I being too rash? Should I just stick it out, even if my A/C isn’t fixed by the end of Wednesday? Is my hope of invoking the state law just a pipe dream that could easily be contested by my building? Thanks for any opinions on the matter?