What recourse is there against a landlord who has not responded to getting a roof leak repaired?
My daughter has notified her landlord 2 times about a roof leak that is now causing interior damage in her bedroom – plaster bubbling, crumbling, etc. and an odor which is making it uncomfortable to be in the room. A few years ago the landlord ignored repairing plaster damage until a portion of the ceiling fell and he then had to repaint and have her carpet and house cleaned. This landlord owns properties in German Village and is financially capable of making decent repairs.
She needs to send them a registered letter and carbon copy, her attorney, building inspector and the county attorney.
It is the landlords responsibility to maintain the structure in a habitable form.
The landlord can be cited by the building department.
Mold is a citable offense. he needs to fix the roof, and resolve the mold issue. The building department can condemn the property until the mold is resolved.
I’m assuming this is in the United States.
The courts have a special landlord tenant department
There is the department of housing which will immediately investigate.
That smell is MOLD. And mold is dangerous, you could also report him to the EPA. My office building had a similar issue, the EPA came in and boy you never seen people resolve the issue so quick in your life.
Threaten to slip and fall and sue him. BE PERSISTENT.
References :
She needs to send them a registered letter and carbon copy, her attorney, building inspector and the county attorney.
It is the landlords responsibility to maintain the structure in a habitable form.
The landlord can be cited by the building department.
Mold is a citable offense. he needs to fix the roof, and resolve the mold issue. The building department can condemn the property until the mold is resolved.
References :
It depends on where your daughter lives. However, all states have laws regulating landlord and tenant responsibilities. Most have stringent laws regarding mold (the odor makes me think there may be some in her apartment) especially because it can be a health risk. Try this link to the Ohio laws, if that is where she lives, I looked up German Village. And I highly recommend her consulting a lawyer. Good luck and tell her to camp out somewhere other than her bedroom.
http://www.hapcap.org/documents/LANDLORD.pdf
References :
http://www.hapcap.org/documents/LANDLORD.pdf
Depending on the state/city your daughter has tenant rights to get it fixed. Some places the landlord has 48 hours to get something going according to the law, or the tenant possibly can hire a contractor to get the work taken care of and take the amount off the rent with receipt of course. I’ve heard also that the tenant can refuse to pay rent until the work is done but again that depends on your tenants rights laws.
Before you do anything though definitely send a copy of a letter by registered mail so it gets signed for or it becomes ‘he said/she said’ as far as notice to the landlord.
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