[sparklingangel]

I have a kind of complicated matter; my new landlord who just brought the home a month ago I rent in (its a duplex and I rent part of it) she bought this house maybe about a month and a half ago, and has not even been here to look at anything that needs repair since. The basement flooded out two weeks ago from a national emergency flood and no one even came to do anythng about it, now I could have toxic mold in my basement and the landlady has finally been contacted and refused to do $hit about it. Anyway, before going into the very good 100 reasons I don't want to stay here anymore, I will give you the skinny on what's going on. I have a previous lease from the old landlord for 729 a month (rental assistance pays a portion and I pay the rest), the new landlord wants me to sign a new lease with her for 800 a month which I cannot afford and do not want to pay for a measly 2 bedroom that needs MAJOR repair, (put it this way, FEMA is coming here tomorrow to assess the damage from the flood that's how bad it is) and they may volantarely displace us and pay for it and the landlady will have to fix stuff good) but anyway, I don't even want to stay here so is it possible that I could refuse to sign the new lease and possibly get my security back 1,000, and move to a healthier safe environment for me and my two little ones?? Or will I have to be stuck here even with the old lease of 729 and deal with her bullcrap?? :( Someone please help, I don't want to be stuck here with the Lead paint and chipping cracked walls with the flooded toxic mold basement forever!! I have two little ones that could very well be poisoned from this as several of my neighbors children have lead poisoning. Problem is the dept of health does not test the home for lead until after your child is poisoned I thought that was crazy! I can't stay here anymore. Anyone have any answers to these questions?? :confused:

[MissAdvice]

Im not sure about the laws of your state, however in my state, if this is the case, we call the city and ask to have a inspector out to the home. Its Free by the way.. If your state has the same, they will issue him a notice to do the repairs, if they aren't done in a timely fashion, the inspector will give you a failed inspection and you can move. However for your own protection, write the repairs down on paper, and send it to him certified return receipt. I had a situation like this and didn't send the letter certified return receipt and I ended my lease, do you know the landlord used it against me, stating tenant damages. Protect yourself now, later is not soon enuff. Send the list of repairs needed certified return receipt. Good Luck

[froggy7]

Do you have time left on the lease with the old owner? If you do, you may be stuck there for that term. However, if she is offering you a new lease, then I think that you can just say that you don't want to accept it and move.

[sparklingangel]

Yes I think that may be the case, with all the problems she will have if I call the building inspector she would prob rather I move lol... so maybe she will return mysecurity cause without I cannot get a new place, but the building inspector thing may not be needed because fema is coming tomorrow to access the damages..! Go FEMA

[sparklingangel]

Im not sure about the laws of your state, however in my state, if this is the case, we call the city and ask to have a inspector out to the home. Its Free by the way..If your state has the same, they will issue him a notice to do the repairs, if they arent done in a timely fashion, the inspector will give you a failed inspection and you can move. However for your own protection, write the repairs down on paper, and send it to him certified return reciept. I had a situation like this and didnt send the letter certified return reciept and I ended my lease, do you know the landlord used it against me, stating tenant damages. Protect your self now, later is not soon enuff. Send the list of repairs needed certified return reciept. Good Luck

That is a great idea so I should send the building inspector the list of repairs right!! Oh godthis is really going to pi$$ her off, by the way, when all this flooding and everything was going on and we finally got in touch with her about two weeks later, and told her to clean out the basement because of the mold, instead of getting here to do it, or having someone come out to do it, she went on vacation!! I should have taped that phone call to prove I told her about it!! I will do that next time!:)

[MissAdvice]

That is a great idea so i should send the building inspector the list of repairs right!!! oh godthis is really going to pi$$ her off, by the way, when all this flooding and everything was going on and we finally got in touch with her about two weeks later, and told her to clean out the basement becuase of the mold, instead of getting here to do it, or having someone come out to do it, she went on vacation!!! i should have taped that phone call to prove i told her about it!!! i will do that next time!:)

Well you have to first send them to her by way of certified letter, so she can't say that she wasn't aware of the matter. Once again in my state, she would be allowed 30 days to make non emergency repairs, and 7 days to make emegency repairs, if she doesn't do this, she could be fined up to 500.00 a day. Therefore to get it started I would send it in writing, certified return receipt, and then if she doesn't respond in 30 days, or according to your state laws.. Then yes I would call a housing inspector and file a complaint. One again in my state, the inspector would come out for free and issue her a notice.

[sparklingangel]

Well you have to first send them to her by way of certified letter, so she can't say that she wasnt aware of the matter. Once again in my state, she would be allowed 30 days to make non emergency repairs, and 7 days to make emegency repairs, if she doesnt do this, she could be fined up to 500.00 a day. Therefore to get it started I would send it in writing, certified return reciept, and then if she doesnt respond in 30 days, or according to your state laws..Then yes I would call a housing inspector and file a complaint. One again in my state, the inspector would come out for free and issue her a notice.

Sound s like you've been through the mill with this landlord stuff too lol, I just can't believe this woman has the audacity to go on vacation while my house sits in toxix mold and my children could be poisoned and she knows about it!! I would be real fricken scared if my tenants told me that especially when they have little ones around who can die!! I would have gotten to the problem right away but no what does she do, go on vacation! I have proof that she knows because she hired a plumber who did absolutely nohting but put a dinky hose in the basement and came to pic k it up!! So she can't say she didn't know about the damage!!

[froggy7]

I will point out that you have no proof that the mold is hazardous to your health. Most of them aren't.

[Fr_Chuck]

First of course a non finished basement that floods in a emergancy situation ( did not flood any time before I guess) but a lot of basments have sumps in them for when water gets in them, and it does not cause mold and even if there is some mold it does not mean it is at a dangerous level.

And let me see you have proof she hired someone to work on it, and they came out but did not fix it the way you wanted it fixed.

But both the landlord and the tennat are obligated to the old lease unless she will release you from it.

And as a landlord, often my tennatns wants things fixed a lot different than they will be fixed, depending on the problem. So I guess the issue is how much water was in the basement, is it a concrete basement with a sump that is designed to rid itself of water, and this was a emergancy situation and the plumber pumped the water out and nothing but concrete that can be hosed off was flooded ?
Or is this a finshed basement where sheet rock and carpet has to be torn out?

[sparklingangel]

First of course a non finished basement that floods in a emergancy situation ( did not flood any time before I guess) but alot of basments have sumps in them for when water gets in them, and it does not cause mold and even if there is some mold it does not mean it is at a dangerous level.

and let me see you have proof she hired someone to work on it, and they came out but did not fix it the way you wanted it fixed.

But both the landlord and the tennat are obligated to the old lease unless she will release you from it.

And as a landlord, often my tennatns wants things fixed alot differnt than they will be fixed, depending on the problem. So I guess the issue is how much water was in the basement, is it a concrete basement with a sump that is designed to rid itself of water, and this was a emergancy situation and the plumber pumped the water out and nothing but concrete that can be hosed off was flooded ?
Or is this a finshed basement where sheet rock and carpet has to be torn out??

The basement was filled with a foot of water, so much that my heat and hot water was out because the heaters were in the basement... not to mention, the little dinky garden hose and dinky pump they rented from the plumber (that they ed later on about spending 150 on) would have taken 3 days to pump all that water out, and guess on Who's ELECTRIC BILL yours truly, anyway, the basement was covered in the old person who lived here's crap, clothes, furniture ext. and will no doubt be mold. The fire company pumped out the basement after I called them in about 3 hours, and the rest of the inch of water that remained dried in a few days, I still won't go down there for fear of toxix mold, fema was down there and said it wasn't that moldy but the investigator is an older man (he was very nice though)_ that didn't seem to knowledgeble about molds and such. And your absolutely right THEY Didn't FINISH ANYTHING THE WAY I WANTED because THEY Didn't DO CRAP BUT COME THERE WITH THE GARDEN HOSE FOR ONE HOUR ON ONE DAY!! They never have even been to the house to meet or greet us or to clean up the basement afterward or anything, don't you find it a little bit odd that these people buy this house and have never even been here once to meet the tenants or note the damage oh my bad they met the lady upstairs the same day they came for the flood and didn't call to let us know they were even coming that day, the most unprofessional landlady Ive ever seen. I don't even want to go into how much I dislike the property manager. I don't know, I'm going to finish out my lease here its only until sept anyway and move, I get section 8 in amonth and can basically move anywhere even out of state if I want but Im searching for a better neighborhood for my kids. Im continuing with my education and getting a real job so I can own my own home one day and never worry about renting again

[froggy7]

If the property owner has a property manager, I don't find it the least bit unusual that they have never been to the property. They are relying on the manager to manage the property and keep them informed of the situation. They may not even be in the same state!

And while there are many nice things about owning your own house, they come with their own worries. Such as, if that was your spot and it flooded, it would be entirely your problem on how to get rid of the water and deal with the potential mold issues.

[excon]

Hello Angel:

Nobody can force you to sign a new lease. If you don't like your home, move. What's the question?? You say your place is a dump, and going to make your children sick? MOVE.

excon

[Toddro61]

Just a side note - "toxic mold" is a scam, so don't live in fear of it. If you are allergic to mold, you may get allergy symptoms, otherwise it won't hurt you.

[MCCarver]

I have a kind of complicated matter; my new landlord who just brought the home a month ago I rent in (its a duplex and I rent part of it) she bought this house maybe about a month and a half ago, and has not even been here to look at anything that needs repair since. The basement flooded out two weeks ago from a national emergency flood and no one even came to do anythng about it, now i could have toxic mold in my basement and the landlady has finally been contacted and refused to do $hit about it. Anyway, before going into the very good 100 reasons why I dont want to stay here anymore, I will give you the skinny on whats going on. I have a previous lease from the old landlord for 729 a month (rental assistance pays a portion and i pay the rest), the new landlord wants me to sign a new lease with her for 800 a month which i cannot afford and do not want to pay for a measly 2 bedroom that needs MAJOR repair, (put it this way, FEMA is coming here tomorrow to assess the damage from the flood thats how bad it is) and they may volantarely displace us and pay for it and the landlady will have to fix stuff good) but anyway, i dont even want to stay here so is it possible that i could refuse to sign the new lease and possibly get my security back 1,000, and move to a healthier safe enviornment for me and my two little ones??? Or will i have to be stuck here even with the old lease of 729 and deal with her bullcrap??? :( Someone please help, I dont want to be stuck here with the Lead paint and chipping cracked walls with the flooded toxic mold basement forever!!!! I have two little ones that could very well be poisoned from this as several of my neighbors children have lead poisoning. Problem is the dept of health does not test the home for lead until after your child is poisoned i thought that was crazy! I can't stay here anymore. Anyone have any answers to these questions???:confused:

Contact your local City Property Inspector - typically with the City Housing Authority's office. Have them inspect the property and they will file the complaint with the landlord to have the home brought up to city living codes.

You can also go to court and have them hold your rent payments in escrow to have the repairs made yourself. Let the court now that the landlord will not respond to your 3 written requests (delivered certified mail) to have your home brought up to proper living standards. You will need to make sure that you use contractors who are willing to be paid after the work has been done to the house because the escrows will not be released from court unless the work is complete and will release the billed amount. The remainder of the escrowed account will than be returned to the landlord to satisfy your rent. When the rent is being held in escrow by the court, the landlord cannot evict you for failure to pay.

You can also go to Homes and Communities - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and find a local HUD approved counseling agency in your area and they can help you with this process.