Inspection violations and my rent (lease, houses, living)

[mylife81]

ok let me start by saying that my wife and I are renting a house that is in terrible condition. We were kicked out of my grandfathers house when i got married because problems with the family, basically they were jealous. Anyways My wife had a friend and her friend's husband had houses to rent, but he just bought this house and the inspection paper said it was in the vacant building program and was under inspection and was suppose to have many things fixed before anyone moved in to the house, but we did not know about this until a month ago when we got a letter in the mail. We really had no other options besides being homeless, so we moved into this place and the LL said he would fix all the problems in the house. we had to pay 1000 in rent and security deposit. we signed the lease even though their were lots of problems because he said he fix them all, well we got a letter in the mail from the city for a vacant building inspection which he was suppose to have all these things fixed by now. we been there for about 9 months and we only have 2 months left, but we want out so we can move into a better and cheaper place. we really got screwed in this, but this was our first experience with renting, so now we have learned a lot, but is there a way to get out of the lease because of these problems? Also we have many videos and photos of the place when we moved in, and the only things he had fixed was the front window and the living room and kitchen floors, and i did the work in the living room for free just so we could live and walk around in there. we want our security deposit back also, if that is possible. This guy seemed really nice at first but soon found out that he is a scum lord, and he owns 11 houses and i have spoken to others that live next to his others house and they all say he is a very bad LL. If anyone could give me some advice i appreciate it, all we want is out of this lease and to get my deposit back if there is a way. thanks

[whakru]

Did he ever get a CO for that house? If not then he cannot legally rent it to you. Therefore your lease would be invalid and he should give you your deposit back.

Did you not look at the house before you signed the lease?

If he will not reason with you then you are probably left with going to the building dept of your town and complaining. But, if the house is uninhabitable or not legal then you better be prepared to move.

And then there is always small claims court if that doesn't work.

Good luck