Ceiling falling in, lanlord will not fix!
I live in Kansas in a duplex that I have rented for 5 years. In 2004 we moved into the duplex we live in. We signed a year lease, after which we were allowed to go to a month to month basis. In April of 2006, after our ceilings leaking for quite some time, parts of them fell in. At 2:00am after a heavy rainstorm, parts of them fell in along one complete wall through two bedrooms. One part in one room, fell on my daughter, thank heavens she was unhurt badly. However we were all so frightened, to be awakened in this manner. I called my lanlord and finally reached him at 7:30 am. I told him what had happened and he told me he could not come to my home as he neded to take his mother to the doctor. I explained to him that we still had water standing on the floors and sheet rock hanging from the ceilings. I told him that we had been to the hardware and gotten fans and a shopvac to try to keep the oak flooring from warping. He told me to make sure I did that as he did not want them to warp and hung up. He showed up at my house around 1:00pm in the afternoon, he went to his truck and came back in with some kind of a sheetrock saw, as he is a contractor, and cut down the majority of the ceiling that was still hanging. He told me that he would have to fix it when it warmed up completely.
He came to the house twice during the summer and stood on the ground and looked up at the roof, but never fixed it. Our cooling bills were so high due to the celings being open. Winter came and we could not keep the house warm as the ceilings were completely open, so we got space heaters to keep our children warm. On February 6, 2008, we had our rent stolen from our mailbox as my husband is a police officer and he had arrested a young man that retaliated. He stole our bills from the mailbox, including our rent check, cut our tires and tore up our children's bikes. We had no idea the rent had not made it to the lanlord until they called. The lanlords wife asked me about the rent and I told her I sent it as I always had and she told me they had not received it. I advised her that I would send another check immediately, gave her the other check number and told her that I would call in a few days to verify payment had made it. I then asked her about the ceilings and told her how high our bills were. She advised me that if she were me she would just move out and advised me I was a worthless mother for letting my children live there. I advised her that we have to live in town due to my husband's job and my physician being here as I cannot drive. The lanlord then took the phone and said he would get around to it that he has priorities and that my husband is a cop so we needed to be patient.
On March 3, the lanlord came and stood outside looking up at the roof. He then came to my door and said he would fix it when it got warmer. I told him how bad it was leaking in our house when it rained and he said it would do not good to fix the inside with the outside bad and left. On April 3 he came back, he got on the roof at 9:32am and got off the roof at 9:52am. He left. On June 8, the lanlords wife called an said there would be someone coming to spray the duplexes the Monday following. My husband asked her about the roof and she said she would have to ask her husband. We did not hear from them depite calling and leaving messages about having to try to fix the insde ourselves until recently. New tenants moved in to the other said of the duplex in May of this year. They have a young boy and she was pregnant. When we met them I asked if I could look at their side of the duplex to see the ceiling as their wall is just on the other side of the one that streams water on our side and they had a baby on the way and a young son. I brought her to our side of the duplex and she was so shocked. We have mold everywhere and there is nothing I can do but treat it. The next rain we had their ceiling started to bubble. She works for a contractor and she had their roofing team come and look at the roof and called the lanlord. After her contractor looked at the roof she called the lanlord again and left a message that she had someone look at it from her compnay. He came to the duplex that afternoon and said that he would sue us if we had anyone else on that roof. She advised him that the contractor had said he would give her a deal of $7000.00 to fix it. When he was here I took him through the duplex and showed him all the water marks and told him we have had to buy fans to keep everything dry. There is a place in our living room that is falling through the same as the ones in the bedroom. I showed him that we have purchased insulation and put in my children ceilings with large pieces of plastic hoping to keep the weather out. I showed him the water bubbles that puddle in the plastic and the dressers and headboards that the water has ruined. The lanlord said I will bring some tin and tar over tomorrow and fix it. He came three days later and spent twenty minutes putting a piece of tin on the roof and had a bucket of tar that he left up on the roof and has never came back.
I know the answer seems to be to move, but first I am disabled and my doctor is 3 blocks away and I cannot drive. Second my husband is the assistant chief of police her and we must live in town as a stipulation for his job. Third we cannot afford a house due to my illness and rentals are very scarce. We have been unable to find another three bedroom for rent and the two bedrooms we have found are out of our price range. I know it seems cut and dried and I have been todl we are stupid. I am sure that seems to be the answer, but if you could be compassonate and not call me stupid, iwould appreciate any guidance.
