Who should we contact regarding condition of our house?

Question

My ex-wife recently rented house in a hurry. Basically she had to move out of the place she was in rapidly. The house she is in now is relatively sub-standard, ants, bad plumbing, slum-lord style. She is refusing to pay rent until the landlord makes some necessary repairs to the house which he refuses to do. I have seen the house and fully agree with her. Who should she/we contact as far as getting the house inspected and written up so he (the landlord) has to make needed repairs.

Answer 1

Was there a "walk-through" of some type prior to your ex taking possesion of the home? If there wasn't and she's been there for a while you may want to be careful about how you proceede. The landlord may imply or accuse your ex of causing the problems that you are noticing. With her not paying rent he may try (and be succesful) to not only collect back rent but also bills for "repairs" that need to be done.
Certainly a lawyer or tennants rights organization are the places to start.
As far as inspections, building and code inspectors may be a way to go and health dept also (possibly). I don't know how quickly they'll respond, though. While I think everyone should have home inspections prior to taking possesion and every 5 years or so, this may be the one instance that it would do you no good. A home inspector will find functional and safety issues (not code violations in most areas), however as I stated above, your ex-may get stuck with the bill for any work or damage (how does the court know if it was there prior to her moving in?) that is present.
After reading this, I should add that I am not in favor of the conditions you describe. Landlords shoud provide safe housing for their tennants. My point is that this could get ugly in a hurry and you should be prepared for what the landlord may try.

Answer 2

Start with code enforcement and the health department. Arrange to have both departments do inspections. They will basically do the rest for you as they will cite the owner to make the repairs within a specified period of time. If there are insects, check to see whether your city has either vector control or a department that handles insect infestations. (Code enforcement may also handle that.)

She really legally cannot withhold the rent and faces the real possiblity of being evicted for non-payment. What she can do is notify the landlord in writing of all of the work that needs to be done. Tell the landlord in the letter that she is arranging for inspections, will get estimates to have the work done and will arrange to have the work done if he does not within 30 days and she will deduct the full amount of the repairs and work from her rent. Make sure she takes pictures, too.

Answer 3

One of the first things she can do is buy Sevin and sprinkle that around the inside of the house, especially in the kitchen. She should make sure she cleans the kitchen every day to keep crumbs and food cleaned up. She can also buy liquid Sevin and attach it to the hose and spray around the outside of the house so it not only gets rid of ants but other critters, too. I use powdered Sevin in the house because it will last longer than sprays and continue to protect for a couple of weeks. She can then sweep it up and put more down.

Sevin is not dangerous to pets or children, another reason I use it rather than something else.

Take pictures of all the problems or document them in other ways through witnesses r a plumber who can give her a written estimate on what it will cost to repair the problems. She should have two copies of the pictures made and make sure she keeps a copy for herself and one for court if it goes that far.

As far as not paying the rent, she is only going to get herself in trouble by withholding that so I don't advise it but she should make sure she gets a receipt for everything she gives the landlord.

She needs to contact the Tenant's Union in her area. They can help renters who have to deal with slumlords and may well be able to help her get out of there and into a better place.

Answer 4

contact the local housing athority. i would not want to pay rent for a place like that my self, but unless she takes some legal action she can get in trouble for not paying rent.