Your landlord refuses to repair your house. It’s dangerous. You’re worried that someone is going to get hurt. You’re thinking about escalating the situation by sending them a certified letter and/or threatening legal action.
That may be exactly the right step to take. You deserve a safe place to live. Sometimes, unfortunately, it takes drastic action to get your landlord to actually provide you with that type of living space.
However, before you do it, just ask yourself a few important questions:
- Is the damage your fault? Did you cause it? Did something you did or failed to do actively make the home unsafe?
- Did you tell your landlord about the problem? Are they refusing to make repairs, or do they simply not know that anything is wrong?
- Have you made all of your rent payments so that you are current and paid up? For instance, maybe you’re thinking about refusing to pay more rent until your landlord makes the repairs. While that is a tactic to consider, you want to be current on payments before you do it.
- Did you give your landlord any time to do the work? If you just notified them last night, and it wasn’t fixed by the next day, you may not have given them a reasonable chance to do so.
- Was someone already injured? This can make the situation more complicated, as you now have to consider medical bills and related costs.
In a difficult situation like this, especially if you or someone else already got injured in the property, you must know your legal options.
