Landlord wants a lease after 7 years of oral agreement

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by grubbyhubby

We have occupied the house since 2008 with no lease but paid rent ( documentation to prove it ). We rent from a church. My wife was employed by the church but has resigned her position. Church is asking us to now sign a lease , HOWEVER -- there are multiple maintenance issues that have been neglected and our requests for repairs to be made have been ignored. We have let maintenance issues slide because of our relationship with the church and her role as an employee, not stirring the waters with her employer.
Where do we stand if we refuse to sign a lease until repairs have been made? We are contacting the city inspector to request the property be inspected for occupancy. I'm fairly confident he will deem the house uninhabitable based on failure to meet city codes and standards, but the city has been reluctant to site the church for code violations in the past. It is not good PR for the city to be seen as "tough on churches".
What is the church's recourse if we do not sign? Will be seen as Squatters in the eyes of the law? I know they wouldn't want to go to court over this.
We are in Missouri. Thanks for any insight.

Look for a new place, if you have it deemed uninhabitable you won't be able to live there anyway.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by grubbyhubby

It's not a new lease signing, there was never a lease to begin with.

If there is "no" lease (which is impossible) as you stated then the guidelines of your states minimum requirements of tenancy become the guidelines that are followed as the "lease". The verbal lease agreement in this case becomes a month to month term with whatever the state guidelines are as the rules that must be followed by tenant and landlord