Send the landlord a letter stating all repairs. State that if they are not completed you will take proper action. This requires suing them in many states. In some states you can call the health department for an inspection. This may not be an option or take a long time to get someone out if it is if you live in a rural area. Hard to advise further without a location.
You are overreacting since you knew the condition of the home before renting. That being said, contact the local housing or tenant board and ask for an inspection of the property. Those electrical issues might be a real problem; be prepared to be unable to reside there in the interim. Guess what, the landlord doesn't have to pay to put you up anywhere else, only to pro-rate your rent for the time you cannot live there.
So, call at your own peril.
You can not legally withhold rent but you could probably move out claiming that the landlord breached the contract(lease) by not delivering a habitable dwelling. All of your complaints should be made in writing indicating the seriousness of the problems(danger). keep a copy for future reference. Good Luck
Building codes are local. Check your local municipality to find out what is required in rental housing.
I live in a small town in West Texas. We have zero standards when it comes to rental housing.
drama
The home didn't have a working shower for over 3 days, it wasn't even hooked up properly! "Our homes are completely rehabilitated and move-in ready" (http://www.johngrahaminc.com/). Moving into a home to find cremation ashes along with a death certificate in the garage, having outlets that don't work and were said to have been "cross wired", exposing two negative prongs instead of a negative and positive, light fixtures not working, A/C filter that was dirty beyond belief, rotted out door jambs and piles of trash in the yard is just an overview of my issues.
They made some fixes that only fixed one light but then a few days later the rest mysteriously started to work. The circuit breakers were also all determined to be loose.
The porch light still isn't working, frightening when people knock on the door at 2AM and i cant see out the door, such as last night.
Basically, is this a life safety issue that I have rights in Michigan to take action? Id hate to plug in something and have it react and kill myself of be in the shower which may be improperly grounded and get electrocuted. Further more, the fact of having a child in the home and then touching the open box of electrical wires.
The maintenance team is taking their time responding to the issue or calling an electrician. It's been over 3 months since move in. Should I withhold rent in an escrow account?
