[manicmushroom]

I live in las vegas, nv. My 1 year lease for the house I live in was up on dec 31, 2009. I have paid on time for 11 of the 12 month lease. We are now in a month to month status. As of today I have not paid january's rent due to financial hardship. I have spoken to the property management company every day since the 5th of January. (end of grace) I was served an unnotorized 5 day on 1/20/10.

before the 5 day expired I applied for a hardship draw from my union pension. Kept landlord apprised every step of the way. Union representative spoke to landlord. She advised him that I do qualify, however, due to a very heavy case load at this time it may take 2-3 weeks before a check is issued. She also told him she needed details of the total rent and fees I owe. Rep stated she would fax him a form to fill out. Conversation took place in front of me on 1/28/10. Spoke to landlord later and he rescinded the 5 day. During the application process I needed a copy of the lease as I could not locate mine. It is now 6 days later, union still hasn't fax'd the form. Landlord has become increasingly hostile. Meanwhile, I filed my taxes, received a return and have just exactly the rent only. Short approx $180 due to fees and such.

this story actually gets worse...

my only vehicle cracked a head 4 days ago, so no wheels to get him the money I do have.

on 1/11/10 I requested landlord to contact owner about lowering the rent to market standard, an amount I can manage. Received no response on that issue.

the property is infested with scorpions. And in the last 3 days: the stove started throwing flames from one of the knobs and has been labeled a safety hazard by the local gas company and kitchen ceiling has started to leak which actually answers some questions we've been wondering about lately:

1) where have all the gnats been coming from for the last 10 months?
exterminator could not solve problem, just advised that they're coming from a
water source.
we live very clean and were perplexed when we failed to locate water source.

2) unexplained increase in illnesses in my family since moving into the property.

possibly black mold?

I questioned landlord again about lowering the rent. He states he will not discuss that issue until we are square on the money we owe. My partner and I decided that we would turn in our written 30 day vacate notice with the rent. 5 hours ago I sent a fax to secretary requesting a return fax of our move-in walk through check list for our records. I received a nasty phone call from the landlord. He was very hostile. Quote "you have been asking for all these things from my office, a lease copy and now this. and you haven't paid what you owe." then he raised his voice and said, "don't ask for another thing until you've paid up" CLICK.

my questions: 1) does property management company have a right to withhold any
documents concerning me if I owe money?

2) can they refuse to replace the stove if I owe money?

3) what should my next steps be, besides moving, if I am convinced
the property has black mold?

4) can I be charged, or can they keep my security deposit if I decide to
vacate before the 30 days for health reasons?

[Fr_Chuck]

1. you can have a professional environmental engineer in to do a air quality study. This would prove if there is any air quality issues. ( you will have to pay for the study of course.

2. if health reasons can not be proved with evidence in court, you will owe the money to them

3. what happened to your copy of the lease, while they should provide one, you can order them if this ends up in court