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Old 05-12-2011, 04:15 PM
 
Location: Boise, ID
8,046 posts, read 28,464,975 times
Reputation: 9470

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There is no one single answer to these questions. You need to look up your state law and do what it says. For example, in Idaho, where I live, you cannot withhold rent for any repair reasons, other than smoke detectors. For some states, you can go to the court and set up an account to pay your rent into for it to be held until the landlord fixes habitability issues. For some other states, you can have the damage fixed yourself and withhold it from rent with receipts if it is something unsafe.

But if you request the repairs in writing, and the landlord fails to comply, and they are legitimately safety items that you definitely didn't cause (I say this because many mold problems are caused by tenant's actions or inactions, like not running the bathroom fan), you can probably legally break the lease. The landlord may still sue you, so be prepared to show up to court with proof that you asked in writing (send it receipt requested), and photos. There are no guarantees, but it is likely that a judge would side with you.
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Old 05-12-2011, 06:36 PM
 
Location: Baltimore
1,758 posts, read 5,136,194 times
Reputation: 1201
I would have liked to contribute but I'm still recovering from the migraine from trying to read and process that wall of incorrectly spelled words.
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Old 05-12-2011, 09:17 PM
 
Location: Southern California
3,113 posts, read 8,376,539 times
Reputation: 3721
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdeleon4 View Post
That's the thing we want to move but their lawyers send a letter saying they will put it as a debt to my dad. They told my dad after the guy curse me out that even if we pay the rent they wont fix anything because they don't care. I want to know if we move that it wont be a problem or they still will bother us with that? We still waiting for the court inspector to come and he hasn't been here yet we will have to go to their office and check what's wrong.
If you're really worried about the house being safe - move out. The fact that you haven't done that? It begins to sound like what you really want is to stay, but not pay rent...
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Old 05-13-2011, 02:26 AM
 
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
7,647 posts, read 9,943,762 times
Reputation: 16465
Here is the problem what what I can figure out. You didn't pay the rent because you felt there were repairs necessary. Now the landlord is evicting you for not paying the rent. They are going to win. You didn't pay the rent.

You can't just not pay the rent. There are laws your have to follow if the landlord won't fix things. I don't know about your state, but in some states you can pay to have thing fixed up to a certain value (1/3-1/2 or a months rent) and deduct it from the rent. IF the landlord has had liek 30 days to do something about it but hasn't. But you can't just not pay.

Obviously this is not a good situation for your family. I would move and be more careful the next time. And yes you will have to pay the back rent - all 3-4-5 months of it or the Landlord is going to sue your father and garnish his wages.
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