feces in the basement

By aggravated renter

We are currently renting a house from a landlord that has been slower than molasses to handle repairs.  The house was built in 1923.  We had to wait almost two months for him to replace the stove that he was supposed to replace when we first moved in.  It took him six weeks to get a professional plumber (not some relative of his) to snake out the bathtub.  We were up to our knees in water every time we took a shower until he FINALLY got that fixed properly. And now- a pipe has burst in the basement and urine, feces, and toilet paper are spewing out of it.  We were noticing that the toilet was becoming more and more difficult to flush so we notified the landlord and to his credit, he did send a plumber out right away.  But after the plumber left, the aforementioned pipe burst.  The landlord told us that we have to wait until after the Memorial Day weekend for a whole new plumbing system to be installed.  He says he doesn’t know where he is going to get the money to repair it.  I’m concerned about our health and safety staying here.  He’s not returning any of our calls now.

Oh- and it gets better.  We started out with just a straight lease.  About a month ago, he broached us about going to a lease with option to buy.  He told the lady of the house that "I don’t make any money when I have to keep repairing stuff".  THEN- right before this fiasco with the sewage leak happens- he’s pushing me to but this property from him before the end of the summer.  I really do NOT trust this guy and I suspect that his motivation to want to sell me the property is based on his desire to avoid maintaining the home in sanitary and safe rental condition.  I doubt that his motivations to sell are altruistic.  I trust this guy about as far as I can throw him.  I’m stuck in the lease until early Spring of 2014.  I’m wondering if he’s obligated to pay for us to stay in a hotel until the sewage problem is fixed.  I’m also wondering how I can get this guy off his soapbox of wanting to sell me this place.  My gut tells me that I want as LITTLE to do with this guy as possible and I should be looking to move out of here asap; at the end of the lease at the latest- unless I can do something to show that he’s violated the lease on HIS end. I’ve paid him in cash each month well in advance of the rent due date.  I’m open to ideas and suggestions.

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