Repairs, Maintenance Landlord tenant

[Mnorton89]

I live in an apartment that is infested with roaches and mice. It also has mold that covers the wall in the wash room. The landlord was informed numerous times about the problems. He informed me to bleach the mold. I told him that the floor needed to be replaced. Also the mold was so bad it came back. The bug problem he gave us spray, that did nothing. He then blamed us for the problem to our neighbors. He informed us he would come fix the floor, never came back. We did not pay rent. Informed him we had it but needed the floor And mold fixed. He then stated we never told him about it. Then filed for court hearings.

 

[army judge]

I live in an apartment that is infested with roaches and mice. It also has mold that covers the wall in the wash room. The landlord was informed numerous times about the problems. He informed me to bleach the mold. I told him that the floor needed to be replaced. Also the mold was so bad it came back. The bug problem he gave us spray, that did nothing. He then blamed us for the problem to our neighbors. He informed us he would come fix the floor, never came back. We did not pay rent. Informed him we had it but needed the floor And mold fixed. He then stated we never told him about it. Then filed for court hearings.

It is never wise to withhold your rent, even IF the law says you can.

So, you withheld the rent, and you find yourself in an eviction proceeding.

You get to try and tell that to the judge.

Take pictures, letters, email, anything that proves what you claim.

Also have the rent you withheld with you in the form of cash or a cashier's check.

Why?

Because if you prevail, the rent will be expected to be paid (most of the time that means right there in the court room).

You might get an offset, but that's up to the judge.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Army judge makes a very good point. From my experience I've found that withholding part of the rent works. If you withhold the entire amount of the rent, that probably doesn't work because it's as if you're saying that the residence is worth nothing at all - which clearly it isn't. If you want to argue that it's uninhabitable then you need to move out, not stay there, and charge the landlord for "constructively evicting" you from the home.

What someone should do, if they find themselves in such a bad position, is to write those letters as stated. Inform the landlord that you are going to take "self-help" measures in order to remedy the situation and give them an idea of what you're doing and the cost. You can then deduct these amounts from the rent, including a reasonable offset for what you honestly believe is reasonable (and it's usually a smaller percentage than most want to believe.) If you are taken to court, your rent reduction can be seen as in the realm of reasonableness. But if you simply withhold all the rent, that is never reasonable and you may have a problem.

Best of luck to you.

 

[shrinkmaster]

Witholding rent is a tricky issue and not all states permit such action. The ones that do require you follow a strict set of guidelines. Its unlikely you checked to see if you can withold and under what conditions. This changed entire issue to eviction

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

It would benefit the OP to review their options in the state of Missouri regarding addressing the issue of repairs that the landlord has not responded to WHEN APPOPRIATE STEPS HAVE BEEN TAKEN by the tenant to notify the landlord of such. The steps are important as they are the tenants evidence that the landlord has been contacted:

http://ago.mo.gov/publications/landlordtenant-full.htm

Failure to follow what is legally allowed in your particular state opens you up to the risk of an eviction.

Gail