sound

We've been here about five months now and have never been late with the rent (payed on the 2nd ONCE). After about two months things started falling apart - we found cockroaches running around the kitchen, cabinet doors falling off the hinges, hot water barley works and we have no heat in one bedroom (we have four kids so now my husband and I are sleeping in the living room!). To top it all off, my husband was cooking a big chicken dinner yesterday and the stove completely stopped working and that is the only appliance he supplied when we moved in! We keep calling him and he acts like he cares but never fixes a thing! He came in a sprayed raid once and all it did was smell up the house. Called him about the stove yesterday and he said he'd see what he can do.

We live in MA and pay $1,500 a month in rent. What can I do to get these things fixed? I'd like to have a bedroom and be able to cook!

squiggles

Jennifer,you need to contact the city health department for assistance.

Paul

You have a few options and none of them are very good. The landlord is responsible for keeping the place in a habitable condition. If you live in a rent controlled city, then you will have more rights than I'm describing here, so you should discuss it with your rent control board.

1. try to work with the landlord about the issues. Roaches and a working kitchen are pretty big issues that prevent habitability. The lack of heat in a single room is no so much, but if it were the whole house and it's freezing, then that would be a bigger issue. Yes, I read that you've been trying to work with him without results, so you can force the issue (see your options below) but it will sour your relationship with him and you'll probably end up moving.

2. You can pay to have these things fixed and deduct them from the rent if the landlord won't fix them in a timely fashion. However, if you're on a month to month least, he might increase the rent in retaliation, which is illegal but almost impossible to prove. If you're on a month to month tenancy he might give you notice to terminate your tenancy, which you don't have any recourse to fight. If you're on a lease, then his only recourse would be to try to evict you, which would mean he has to go to court and have a judge approve it. You would have an opportunity to appear before the judge and explain why you had these things fixed. The judge would require some documentation about communication with the landlord about how long you had to wait to have these things fixed, but he would probably side with you. However, the landlord might not want to renew your lease when it expires.

So, it seems that you can force the issue with the landlord and see if he retaliates (he might not), and then you move or you could just start looking for a new place.