Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Missouri

improper maintenance from landlord

I rent from governmenr housing, West Central MCAA, and we have a basement that floods every time it rains causing black mold to grow in our basement and now upstairs. We have been reporting this for over a year, and around inspection time, they covered up the mold by putting up new sheet rock in order to pass the yearly required inspection. It has been almost a year and nothing has been done abou this. I have started to withhold rent. what are my legel rights on this. The lease states all maintenance problems are to be fixed in a timely manner. What is considered a ''timely manner''? We have a child highly allergic to this mold and now makes breathing for her on a daily bais. How should I handle this problem?


Asked on 6/02/09, 8:50 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Smith LawSmith

Re: improper maintenance from landlord

Get your child into a safer enviornment. That may be with a relative or friend, or even temporary fostership. If your child is really :highly allergic" and having trouble breathing, that is more important than any legal action you can immediately take. Then, once your child is safe, you can begin making reports to HUD and the accompaning state agencies. If you keep your child in this mold-infested atmosphere, knowing that it will get worse, (if untreated) as the Summer gets hotter, then it looks more like you don't like the level of home you can afford, and are using a pretend child illness to get more than you can afford.

This may sound harsh, and is not meant to be cruel. But, if you make a report of a serious health issue that you have kept your child in, then your child may be taken away involuntarily. In that case, you wil have much tougher time getting yrou chidl back, then if you send her to stay with someone else while you get the mold issue addressed.

Good Luck

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Answered on 6/08/09, 1:28 pm


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