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Renting from what seems to be a slumlord, can I get retribution?

By Helios

I’m paying 650 a month for a split-studio in a divided-up house near the University. While that’s somewhat everage, and it’s a nice apt (wood floors, high ceilings) in a cool old victorian house, this house is starting to show some serious problems. The house has kindof been repaired in cheap fashion, there are problems with wiring, continuous plumbing issues… I’ll explain. 

The landlord continues to show that he is lazy, cheap, and being pretty sheisty. I’m paying a lot for rent, am in medical school (so little to no time for ANYTHING), and don’t know how to approach this less passively. 
I discovered that the washroom (containing one crap washer, and one crap dryer) is wired to my apartment’s fusebox – I shut off fuses and the displays and light down there go out. I contacted my landlord about this, and he claimed to not know about it. I indiacted that I would like at least a reduction in rent, but would I be able to claim retroactive? He said to find out how much it’s drawing, but I think that should be something HE deals with. 
A time ago, the radiator system had some issues with the boiler, and was out for a few days last winter. While it would work intermittently, it was at the point where any *decent* landlord would’ve told us that we were on paid stay at a nearby hotel. He kept insisting that it would be fixed soon, yet the incompetent plumber he hired kept messing up more. Finally, we outsorced to a different plumber, and the problem was fixed within a few hours. 
Currently, there is a water leak coming from the unit above me. I have pots on my floor, catching drips of brown, disgusting water that smells like rotten wood and mildew. The crack in my ceiling is bulging, and I’m afraid because the house has had other bathroom ceilings collapse. My friend who lives in the *other* apartment upstairs is kindof the in-house repairman, and he said they might have to cut a hole in my ceiling! I definitely would not want to stay here whlie that happens, and I have a lot of valuable things that could be damaged! (gutars, furniture, etc.)… It’s sounding like my friend and the landlord are upstairs working on it, maybe it’ll resolve but I’m not really excited about having to deal with this. 
I’m wondering what a suggested course of action would be – I am always really broke from paying such high rent, if I’m able to request monetary retribution that would be favorable. 
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Edited on: Wednesday, February 6th, 2013 2:58 pm
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One Response to “Renting from what seems to be a slumlord, can I get retribution?”

My response: (We welcome stories, examples, explanations, answers and a touch of your personality)
 

Amanda

February 6th, 2013 6:01 pm

Generally, a tenant cannot ask for a reduction in rent if the problem would be repairs. However, you may ask for a refund if you had to spend for the repair or if you had to be temporarily relocated while a landlord betters your apartment – if that’s even possible in your case.

Sorry to hear that you have such a landlord. I know you’re busy but when he asked you how much the washroom electricity is for, you should have requested for a specialist to make the estimate. Chances are your landlord is just about ready to give you a refund. For a busy medical student like yourself, picking up the phone to call the right person shouldn’t take a lot of time.

Now if the rent is too high for you and you’re not seeing your money’s worth, then maybe you can just move out. You can break your lease agreement if the building is in violation of codes but that would be too much of a hassle for you. So maybe you can just file a formal complaint against your landlord.

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