Warranty of habitability

By mj

i’m renting a house in northeast nj for 2000 a month.  i talked my landlord down from 2200.  now, there are problems with the plumbing, the hot water in the shower doesn’t work.  the air conditioner can never achieve the temperature you set it at unless you stuff an extra ac unit with exhaust in the fireplace chimney and you put a sprinkler on the roof ( it’s a slate roof ).  there are holes that mice can and do get in through.  they have eaten all my power bars and m&m’s and such.  none of the windows have screens so i can’t open them unless i want bugs.  there is a severe mold condition due to hot water leaking from the shower.  there’s no gfi in the kitchen.  there are no locks for the garage door so i use chains to keep all the equipment safe.  i bought a rider mower, 3 blowers, a weed wacker and a snow thrower as i’m responsible for maintenance on the grounds.    in honesty i just mow the lawn and blow the leaves and don’t do much more.  i’m not the neatest person so the place is a little messy and so are the grounds, but pretty easy to correct. because i haven’t been able to get help and i’m single.  the faucets are old and i constantly have to replace washers.  the handle on the sinks faucets only works on one of them so i have to switch it from cold to hot.  now, since he came down in price he says i have to take care of upkeep ( this house was built in the 40’s and everything is as was, old old old.)  i told him he is obligated but he says it’s in the lease that i have to maintain it.  i said he is obligated to the warranty of habitability and he said if we want to go by the letter of the law i have not been keeping the ground to the letter of the lease and he’ll have all sorts of inspectors come in.  it was never mentioned that i would be getting less service, though service was poor to start with, in exchange for the drop in price, it’s not even legal.  i am working steadfastly on getting it neatened up and getting the grounds neater.  the place is so drafty that last year it cost my 750 bucks just to keep the temp between 62 – 65. i don’t really fear an inspection but i don’t know how i could get screwed with an inspection.  to be honest i wouldn’t mind getting out of this place and getting it declared for non occupancey i would be ok with becausei could live in an apartment much cheaper.  .where should i go with this.  my lease expires in june and i have asked for a copy as i can’t find the one i had gotten originally.  i really think this guy is being a bad landlord and nto conducting himself honorably and i wouldn’t mind skewering him.  oh, and one more thing, i can never speak directly to him.  i always speak to his assistanst in the office and she relays what i say and relays back to me what he says.

Related posts:

Holy Cow, we couldn't find any other related post. Sorry. :(