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mt6146 · Sep 17, 2007, 11:51 AM

My family and I moved into this house about 7 months ago. The landlord seemed so nice in the beginning, and he said he wouldn't make us sign a lease. We live in the country, 3 br house, w/ well water septic for $675/mth. The house was wonderful and so was the landlord at first. Until we started to realize what we got ourselves into. The basement floods, the downstairs toilet didn't flush, and there was no gas hookups for our dryer (as promised) After we were there for about a month, I called the landlord and told him a list of things that needed his attention. Then we began to see that he didn't do a lease for a reason. He didn't want to be held responsible for repairs and upkeep of his own property. My husband installed a gas line hookup for dryer in basement. The basement still floods and the toilet... well he brought an entire new toilet to our front door and said "here you go, but you'll have to install it yourself". My husband can fix anything around the house. He did remove the old toilet and ran into problems with a cracked stack pipe and too many wax rings... when he installed the new one (the proper way) the toilet still leaked because the bolt on the side was broken. And the above mentioned issues, as well. Hours of work that he would have paid someone a fortune to repair/install. Offered us no money off the rent. We told him there was a leak, the floor always has water on it. The bathroom smells. Unsanitary? Well that was May 19th, 2007. Do you think he has made any attempt to resolve the issue? Or the flooding basement? Nope and it is now September. We are moving and we have not given him this months rent yet. We were paid until September 7th, this month. We are going to be out on Sunday the 23rd. I told the landlord that with all the work my husband did, we should call it even. What are our rights? Technically we owe him from the 7th of this month until the 23rd. We are living in unsanitary conditions that he refuses to do anything about. Please help. Now I know why people sign leases.

ScottGem · Sep 17, 2007, 11:57 AM

You have no rights except to pay the rental. In fact, unless you gave notice prior to 8/23 that you were moving, then you will owe for 30 days from when you gave notice.
Yes, the landlord should give you credit for the work you did, but he is under no obligation to do so.

And if you move without paying the rent that is owed, he can sue you for it.