Had to do this for my dryer. Was broken for 3 months. I let the rental office know every few days that it wasn't working. Eventually ran a clothesline on my porch and literally aired my "dirty" laundry in public. Got a warning about being in breach of the lease terms, went back to the office the same hour with the escrow paperwork and a copy of the lease terms that they were in breach of (maintaining appliances, responding in a timely fashion) and brought excerpts from my states rental laws showing them that I was in the right to put the account in escrow, and that I could bill them for the escrow fees and my time.

Dryer was fixed the next day.