My landlord won't fix anything!Should I not pay this months rent?

Question

until she fixes the problems?I have been living in this house for 4 yrs now I started noticing problems the first year during the winter mold started growing on the ceiling and all over the hall and in all the rooms on same side of walls, and there is water leaking out from under the bathroom shower that is also causing damage I told the landlord about the broken pipes and the moister causing mold to grow and this is what she said; I will get it fixed this summer, Summer came and nothing was done. So I bought the mold resistant paint myself and cleaned the whole house with bleach and painted it. It's not bad during the summer But as soon as winter comes I have the same problems and now my furniture is damaged with mold I don't know what to do? I have receipts of purchases I've made for the house and pictures. I have two daughters ages 2 and 5 and I won't let them use the bathroom they use their potty chairs I'm afraid they'll slip in the bathroom.Please give me some advise thank you

If I write her a letter how should I word it? Thank you

Answer 1

Hi, go to your City Hall website, and there is a dept . that deal s with these things. Also the mold is a health issue. You could go to the Board Of Health on that . Inform your Land Lord that you are contacting them about issues that need attention,and do ,make a copy of any paperwork, or letters that you send to him,along with the receipts so you can get reimbursed for the money you have already spent. That would include the price of the furniture items damaged because of neglected simple repairs you have requested. Good Luck, I wouldn't let them get away with that Bull-Droppings! Byee

Answer 2

Complaining to your housing department is a start, especially because it'll probably force your landlord into doing something, but not paying rent will just give your landlord grounds to evict you (and probably unwanted legal battles later). And like the above poster said, look for a new place to live just in case the house is deemed uninhabitable.. It's going to cause a huge headache. Is there anything in your lease agreement that stipulates that the landlord will keep up on maintenance and stuff? Tell her that the mold is going to be a health risk for your family (which it could eventually turn out to be) and that you want to prevent that from happening. Nag her everyday if you have to.. just get it done!

Answer 3

Find a third party to pay the rent to. Housing Dept or a legal service. Fail to pay the rent and you will get evicted and worse your credit rating will be tarnished. Have the 3'rd party act as a speaker and let the landlord know the rent is paid and waiting for her when either repairs are done or you are paid back for repairs done.

Be very careful - if there is not contract spelling out about repairs and she does not want to do them due to cost - the city or town can simply close the rental as a health hazzard and you will have no where to live. I recommend you start looking for another place to live in the time it takes to work on this.

Answer 4

You've got to get out of there. The mold is a health concern. Contact the health dept and the housing dept - they will probably agree that you should be relinquished from any lease contract because of sanitation issues. Then get thee and thy daughters to a healthy environment.

I don't think you can legally withhold rent, but you could post this again in the law & ethics section and see what answers you get regarding tenant rights, etc.

Answer 5

You have several options. You can fix the air conditioner yourself and charge him for the cost or you can withold rent until repaired. Keep in mind that you will have to pay all back rent when the repair is completed. A third option is to go to small claims court for breach of contract. er, that is if the air conditioner is part of the rental/lease agreement.

Answer 6

Contact the housing department in your city. They will make her fix it.....if you dont want to deal with that, just move! As for the rent I wouldn't pay a dime!

Answer 7

With-holding the rent will get you evicted, you can't do that. You'll end up in small claims court and you'll lose.

Talk to her in person, to person, have your letter of leaving ready, see what she says. If she gives you a story like "we'll be there to fix it in ten days' then tell her that in fifteen days this is my notice to leave, if you don't start and, follow through wih it.

Now: let me tell you a story: it's several stories but this is only one. My daughters house had black mold growing in the basement, it was thick on the walls, she didn't use the basement but, cleaned it anyways. The molds she found out made it's way up the walls and into the bedroom walls, but, behind them. We found the walls behind the wallboard full of mold.
She started coughing and wheezing, couldn't breathe, MRI's showed white spots on her lungs, could be cancer they said. A biopsy showed mold, actually mold growing in her lungs. They cured it but, think about it. This is the fourth case of this I heard about, One man lost a lung to black mold.

Think about your faughters and you health. Move for pete's sake, What's behind the walls if it's that bad on the outer walls.

Answer 8

you are still under obligation to pay rent
maybe you could work out a deal where you repair things and have it deducted from rent owed

this question sounds like a peoples court thing

Answer 9

in UK if u dont pay rent you have broken terms of tenancy. landlord has also broken terms by not doing repairs BUT unfortunately its an unfair world. there will be a CAB locally if u live in uk who will advise you at no cost and can make initial moves to rectify your problem. good luck

Answer 10

Landlords suck