Signed a lease for 1 year and found the house is roach infested
I signed a year lease with a privately owned landlord for a condo in New Jersey. After moving into the apt, found out the place is heavily infested with roached, the paint is really bad and the condition of the house is not livable. This was not evident from the initial looks before signing the lease as somebody was living in the condo.
On the first night, could not tolerate and next day moved out to a short-term furnished rental for a week for landord to clean, paint and fix all problems.
After 13 days of payment from my pocket for the short-term rental, we moved back into the condo and though the condo is freshly painted and most problems are fixed, the roaches are still there. The pest control company says it has been a heavy infestation for a very long time and will take time to be completely treated.
After 1 night of spending in the condo, asked the landlord to move us out of the house, arrange for a hotel till we find a place, or compensate us for all the hassle (menal and financial) that we have been through.
He is insisting that we knew the condition of the house before move-in, and if now we want to move out of the condo, it is our fault and he will not do anything and not even will return the full deposit back.
Can I go to the court and file a case against him for moving us into a worst condition apartment, not compensating us for the trouble and now that we cannot stay and need to move out immediately for reason of family hygiene with a 3 month old baby, he is not even arranging anything.
We have spent more than the rent of the house living outside, all our kitchen has been destroyed by roaches, and now we need to move to a hotel till we find a place to move.
What is the best route? Please advise