Problem with basic necessities

By Amanda

Ten days before I was to drive to Montana from Minnesota, leaving my husband and my two little boys, my future landlord tells me that I have to sign a 6-month lease agreement and send the first month’s rent.  If I don’t, she will give the place to someone else.  She does not have photographs because the place is not finished and won’t be finished until I get there.  Since I am stressed out with the move and depressed over leaving my family, and  trying to prepare for my new job in Montana, there is no way I will be able to find another place to rent.  I was forced to sign the agreement or be homeless.  When I arrive, the place is not finished, but I move in anyhow.  The plumbing does not work, so I have to stay in a hotel the first night. The next two nights, I am told that I can use the bathroom next door, at the main house.  So in the middle of the night, I have to go outside in the Montana cold (it is January) to use the bathroom next door.  Staying at the apartment is awful because there is only a space heater to heat the entire place, and the floor is not insulated (it is concrete).  I could not sleep because I was so cold.  In addition, there is no smoke detector and no carbon monoxide detector.  Furthermore, there is a fuse box about 12 inches above the bathroom sink, which was very frightening!  After 3 nights of not sleeping, I packed up all of my stuff, and I left.  I could not function at that point, and I could not stay another night there.  Now I want my first month’s rent returned, or at least the $49 I spent to stay in a hotel the first night, and the landlord is refusing to give me either.   I want to take her to Small Claims Court, but I am afraid I don’t have a leg to stand on.  Any advice is much appreciated!

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