[porterc2]

My family and I are renting a house in Hendersonville, TN. There have been many repairs that the house has needed in the time that we have lived there but the landlords will not fix them or if they do try to fix them it is not done correctly. This has caused many problems. We now have mold growing due to leaks that have not been fixed in a timely manor. We have called to complain and are told that the repairs would be done but no one ever shows to make the repairs. Two weeks ago we called about 2 leaks in our house. It took the landlord over a week and a half to send a plumber to fix them. When the "plummer" showed up and tried to fix a leak in the kitchen sink they ended up breaking the pipe and flooding our kitchen. They caused a huge mess and used our clean towels to soak up the water. The other leak we had called about was a leak in the bathroom shower that was leaking through the wall onto the carpet. The plumber left two holes in the wall with tape covering the holes and has not been back to fix them. We found an empty bottle of whisky in our trash and a note in our refrigerator that said "I owe you for 1 cold beer".
The driveway to our house is approximately 1/ to a mile from the road. The driveway has been washed out and not taken care of so it is very difficult to get in and out of the driveway. If you do not start and the right amount of speed you will get stuck and have to roll to the bottom of the hill and start again. We have lost at least one tire due to the rough conditions. They have promised many times to fix it but still have not.
Last week I sent an email to the landlord with pictures of the mold and damages in our house but she doesn't seem too concerned.

We have 3 children in our house, including a 2 year old, and these problems concern me greatly! I realize we could just move but with the holidays coming we just don't have the finances. I seem to never get a response as long as the landlord gets her money so for the month of November I have not paid rent. I realize this is not the right thing to do but it seemed to get her to at least starting on making these repairs. I do have every intention to pay the rent but not until some of the repairs are fixed.

Can you give me any advice? What are our rights as renters?

[JudyKayTee]

You protect yourself by sending the landlord a letter, return receipt, outlining the problems.

If it's a dangerous situation - which mold certainly is - you notify the County Health Department.

As I read Tennessee Law if the landlord decides to evict you for non-payment of rent you cannot then pay the rent and be "allowed" to stay (which is the situation in some cases).

I would send a letter that you are putting the rent in an escrow account until the repairs are made, not just refuse to pay, or you are going to be evicted.

[Fr_Chuck]

Hendersonville, I though had a fairly tough code enforcememt policy, have you reported the living conditions to the city.