I found a place in Philadelphia that looked nice. August 6th I was supposed to move in. There were numerous problems including broken toilet and water heater no appliances (stove And oven promised in lease) and other things. The biggest issue was there were roach remains (egg casings and feces) all over the kitchen cabinets. Smell was horrible. I stayed w my parents while they fixed problem. By the end of August he had fixed most problems, sent cleaning lady to clean cabinets but she did a horrible job, completely skipping complete cabinets and pushing feces into corners of cabinets. I immediately told landlord by email it wasn't enough and cabinets probably needed to be replaced. I didn't hear from anyone for two weeks so I made a YouTube video showing the problem. Finally September 3rd landlord came to see the problem. He said he will send someone better to clean. September 10th they came did a better job but roach feces still everywhere. I tell landlord I am going to just replace the cabinets and deduct it from rent by email. He calls me and threatens to take legal action if I touch his cabinets. We negotiate to reduce my rent $50 and I will take care of the cabinets on September 14th. Worst decision I ever made (besides signing lease in first place). I started living at place on the 17th so I can spend free time cleaning cBinets. Spent almost $300 bucks on cleaning supplies/equipment. Plus 30 hours of work. Literally had to take apart entire cabinets scrub every inch including the walls. Still have to clean drawers and doors an put them back on. Throughout the dozens of emails with my landlords secretary I constantly said I'm not paying rent till this is taken care of and I get my appliances. She never challenged that. She would say things like I understand you are not living there yet. On September 24 I emailed her saying once I get the oven I will prorate my rent to reflect rental unit being ready. She responds with a smiley face. September 28th she emails me saying my landlord says I need to pay full rent for September. I send a certified letter explaining everything, with copies of emails and receipts of costs of cleaning equipment and a check for $400 which I tell him is more than reasonable. I said if he has any issues with that to address them to me in a certified letter within 2 days with my check and that he should include a timeline to fix other violations like no smoke detectors, no ventilation in bathroom, Leaking bedroom window. Leaking wall in family room. I don't really care about those things now, I just want to live here and never Deal with them again except to send a rent check every month. But if does not want to be reasonable and doesn't accept my offer, I will demand a rental unit that is fully up to code and will call an inspector. Have I done anything wrong? Am I being unreasonable?

'looked nice?' Ummm... OK...
You really should not have rented the place, period, until all violations and promises like appliances were done. You don't have very many rights once you sign the lease and pay and move in - you owe from the start of the lease! You can't deduct ANYTHING from the rent on your own, especially cabinets! You don't get to demand certified letters in 2 days, or to give partial rent and say that's that. I am not unsympathetic but the law is the law, and you just don't get to order landlords around. You submit a list of problems, and if it's serious, you give the rent to a lawyer to hold in escrow, and/or call the Health Dept. Keep in mind that when your lease comes up for renewal, chances are all the work you did and money you spent will be ignored and either your lease will be terminated or your rent will skyrocket.

I guess I agree, where in this, did it look nice. I doubt my wife would have stayed 2 min in the front door and would have beek sick in stomach in the kitchen.

You should not have paid a penny till things were fixed and if paid, never moved in, till you inspected and things were fixed. And installed.

Sorry, you can move, and then fight them in court when they sue you for rent, and counter sue for your money back.

Or not pay and wait for them to file eviction and fight it out in court then.

Either way you are headed for court.

Thank you for your responses. I did not actually move into the place until September 17th after I negotiated with my landlord to lower my rent $50 and I would take care of the cabinets. I have also been in constant contact with my broker who is the one who told me not to pay rent and to prorate for September. When we were negotiating he offered to give me back all of my money and I could move out. I was under the impression it was clear that I wasn't paying rent for the time I was not able to live there because they did not have the house ready. I didn't send him the letter to say that's that. I was negotiating with him. If he isn't happy with it Id expect him to write back to me and tell me what he expects. I have record of all the emails between me and his secretary that reflect the insane amount of time I had to wait to get stuff done. She made it seem like I wasn't expected to pay rent for the time I couldn't live there because it was not ready. From my understanding the letter I sent him was an offer to make everything OK by accepting a prorated amount of rent for September and putting y first months deposit towards October. If he does not accept my offer he should not cash my check and write me with a counter offer. My issue is that we have a contract. He made me a promise. I have acted in a certain way because of the promise. He has not kept his promise. Since he did not keep his promise I'm suffering an injustice.

Emails back and forth with a secretary who replies with smiley faces. A broker who offers your money back, but you didn't take it. You were under certain 'impressions.' You have a contract - yes, to rent an apartment. Where is your contract to start it after everything is to your liking? And a landlord can cash a partial check and still hold you liable for more. He is under no obligation to respond to 'offers' and silence is not an agreement under the law.

What we are trying to tell you is that unless everything is written down and signed by both parties, you are stuck with the original lease. You can argue with us all you want, but we don't write the law.

No and you don't know what your talking about. Stop pretending you do.

Look up acceptance by performance. Then look up implied warranty of habitability. Then look up promissory estoppel. Then look up unjust enrichment. There r so many legal issues going on here. Written contracts are not final say. Even though if I had everything in writing and signed I would not have any issues. Also look up Pugh v Holmes.

Good luck with all those in front of the judge evicting you, who might give you 5 minutes to state your case. You might get a few more minutes in Small Claims if you are the plaintiff.

I have been both landlord and tenant over the last 47 years. As a tenant, I experienced every slimy landlord trick in the book, from straw fronts to bribing Health Inspectors.