Rental rights?

Question

I just switched apartments under the same landlord. However, the upstairs toilet appears to be leaking, I suspect the drain. It is dripping through the fan/light into the living room. How long does the landlord reasonable have to fix the problem? This has been going on for a few days with this nasty toilet water. He isn’t here rectifying the problem but I noticed he was as an another apartment cleaning it out. What can I do?

Answer 1

There are state specific laws for renters. Look them up on your state your landlord has to fix the problem in a timely manner especially since it's dirty toilet water. What state do you live in?

Answer 2

Call health services and or inspectional services right away. You have described a health hazard (if the leak is raw sewage) and a potential electrical problem. They will inspect right away and order your landlord to fix immediately. If he doesn't then you may be able to break your lease and he'll have no recourse against you (although I can't guarantee this, rules different in every state). In the alternative you may want to threaten to call these agencies and see if it lights a fire under your landlord.

Answer 3

first of all---your request MUST BE IN WRITING---then he has a fair amount of time say 10 days to attempt to correct the problem...you must submit the request in writing thru the US Postal service...usually CMRRR is the best way...this will also open the day for you to get out of the leasing agreement but only if certain procedures are followed in a very certain order

Answer 4

Call him once to report the problem and once to remind him, then send him written notification. When you get the confirmation back, call the county health department.

Answer 5

You need to keep calling him. If it gets worse he has to pay for the damage. You can also call the zoning board of board of health for code violations.