Ok.. Some friends of mine recently moved into a rental in central Kansas. They moved in not knowing the basement floods every time it rains heavy. Lately it's flooded at least once a month. Last week when it happened it left 6" of mud on the floor. The landlord dropped off a shop vac and has stopped taking and returning calls. They have two issues... 1) who is responsible for the clean up? Six inches of mud is a bit overwhelming... 2)They are paying rent for unusable space...

They need to thoroughly read their lease and their state's landlord / tenant laws. (There's a "sticky" at the top of this forum with a link for each state.) It varies from state - to - state, but generally:

They'll need to give the landlord WRITTEN notice of the problem. The "clock" doesn't start ticking until the proper notice has been given. The landlord will have a certain amount of time to respond and rectify the problem. Then, if he doesn't take care of it they will have remedies. Some places / situations allow rent to be withheld and/or placed in an escrow account. Some places just allow the tenant to break the lease. It varies.

They obviously have 2 problems. Clean-up, and the fact that this is going to be a recurring problem.

My biggest advice is to stop communicating with him by phone/messages/etc. Get WRITTEN requests out to him TODAY!

Thanks for the help! I read the sticky first and since it's in Kansas... the statutes are impossible to wade through... I email your response to my friend. The biggest issue is that it's a very small town and the landlord's husband is the city maintenance sup. They kind of have fingers in everything in town. Bad deal all the way around.