Housing Code Violations for Rental Properties?

Question

We are currently renting a house. We have a laundry list of complaints about it ranging from the toilet constantly leading to the foundation caving in and having mold. I have called the city offices and all they can give me is a list of codes for new structures. How can I get this stuff resolved? Who else should I contact? Should I call HHS too??

We are going to be having a baby soon and this house has too many things that are unsafe for him. I have already drafted a list for the landlord as to what we feel needs to be addressed.

This is my current list of issues we have with the house:

1. Front enclosed porch currently has no support for the floor.
2. Foundation is cracked and caving in
3. Walls in the basement where cracked have mold.
4. Basement contains a large network of exposed and out-dated wiring.
5. Basement stairs slide when walked on.
6. Cockroaches, spiders and other critters.
7. House leans to the west a chair with wheels will roll from one end to the other
8. Wood flooring has no sub-flooring and the entire house bounces when walked across.
9. Back patio door doesn’t lock, is very hard to open and the screen is completely broken
10. Back deck is held up by a stack of cinder blocks and the railing is loose and rotting.
11. Hot water heater needs replaced, leaves hard white chunks in the tub and clocks faucets.
12. Only two burners work on the stove.
13. Toilet runs and leaks even after internal parts replaced.

14. SW gutter on the enclosed porch needs to be fixed, down spout is torn off, water leaks in when it rains.
15. There are multiple layers of shingles on the roof.
16. No smoke detectors
17. No ground fault circuit interrupters in the kitchen, bathroom or outside.
18. No flashing between deck ledger boards and the house.
19. Were never given a notice of lead paint or lack thereof in the house.

We moved in because it's a town of 1500 and it was literally the only house up for rent when we got there. We are currently looking at buying a house if we can't get these issues addressed.

Answer 1

If I were you I would just move. If you chair is able to slide across the house, and I was expecting a baby, I would be EXTREMLY concerned of the house caving down.
The structure of your home sounds unstable.

Answer 2

You need to contact the local health department in your area, relative to the mold growth. This may or may not be a health issue, depending on the nature of what you are calling 'mold'.

As far as a leaking toilet, I don't know that you will be able to get anyone to handle that other than the landlord, since the toilet apparently works, but leaks.

As far as the caving foundation, why on earth did you rent the place in the first place, if the foundation was 'caving in'?

Addendum: After reading your detailed list, start looking to move elsewhere. Some of your complaints are legitimate sounding and others are not. (Three layers of roofing on a house is not a defect. A leaking roof is a defect) At any rate, there is no way this landlord is going to bring this property up to your standards unless he demolishes the place and starts over.

Answer 3

when you rented this house did you go through with the landlord and do a check list? This could be a problem if you did and did not list these items at the time. You could try to get out of your lease or sublet but you will have to look through the lease and see if it talks about that at all and even if it says you can sublet get it in writing from the owner. The mold is very dangerous for a new baby I think that no matter what I would try to get out of the lease matter of fact I would call the city and have them send a health inspector to inspect the property and write it up and send a copy to the landlord and if they do not comply and it is written that the situation is dangerous to health you have a great case! Good luck and get out