I rent an apartment on the second floor of a two story building. Every time it rains heavy a waterfall comes pouring through my living room window. I have complained about this for at least the last six months, if not longer. My Television was ruined the first time and at least four times I have had to clean the carpet. Now I see that there is water damage starting to form around my window and down my wall, and the paint is peeling off. The only attempt the owner of the building has done to rectify the situation is fix the gutters. This does not replace my property, cleaning costs or fix my water damage situation, though. What are my legal rights in this situation? Can I with hold my rent until repairs are made? Do I have to take him to court or is there a department that handles this stuff?

Please help!

You need to take him/her to small claims court! Don't withhold your rent because then they can kick you out take them to small claims court

Have you put your complaints in writing yet? If you plan on taking legal action then you have to make sure that you start the paperwork.

If you haven't already done so, send the landlord a letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, with a copy by regular mail. In the letter inform them that you have complained many times about the water leaks and they have failed to do anything to fix them. Then tell them that the water is starting to cause structural damage to the apartment and explain it in detail. Send them pictures if you can. Finally, tell them that if they don't repair it within the next 10 days you will have to seek legal remedies.

Your remedies depend on the law in your location. Some states allow you to withhold rent. Other states allow you to have the repairs made yourself and deduct them from the rent. One method that I believe is allowed everywhere is that you can pay the rent into the court until the repairs are made. At the top of the Real Estate Law forum is a sticky post containing links to the landlord/tenant laws for all of the states. You can try looking up the law in your location.

But don't try withholding rent until you've started putting your complaints in writing!