I'm being evicted for not paying rent. My landlord had over a year to fix the house we are in now, but nothing has been

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Customer: I'm being evicted for not paying rent. My landlord had over a year to fix the house we are in now, but nothing has been fixed, and the house is not safe. There's missing windows, holes in the floors, it's constantly cold we can not keep it warm. My husband suffers from congestive heart failure and needs his machines plugged in at all times for his difibulator, but with the old wiring throughout the house the breaker box keeps jumping so we have to keep heaters off so his machines can stay on. We have been suffering and paying 600.00 rent plus Bills for a year now with no late payment until Dec. 2019 when our lease was up. We have not yet signed a new lease because we were told we were gonna be moved to a new place. My husband is in the hospital,as he has been several times living in the conditions that we are, but now we are being told to leave. What can I do or who could I talk to so we are just kicked out with no place to go?
JA: Because laws vary from place to place, can you tell me what state the property is in?
Customer: San Antonio Texas
JA: What are the terms of the lease? Any issues related to maintenance or upkeep?
Customer: Yes the landlord is responsible for all house maintenance
JA: Anything else you want the Lawyer to know before I connect you?
Customer: When we first moved i called code enforcement to come and they gave his a certain amount of time to fix everything but he is been a year now. Plus I have photos of the condition of the house including several witnesses

Answered by tleeders in 41 mins 2 years ago

tleeders

10+ years of experience

4638 Satisfied customers

Expert in: Family Law, Legal, Estate Law, Real Estate Law, Criminal Law, Employment Law, Business Law, Consumer Protection Law, Bankruptcy Law, Traffic Law, Personal Injury Law.

tleeders, Expert

Hi and thanks for your question. So, you indicated your lease is up? If there is no lease, there is nothing you can do to force them to re-lease to you. The conditions you described would be defense to an eviction for non-payment. The landlord has to keep the property habitable, and your remedies are: after notice, to fix it yourself and withhold rent to cover costs, or to break the lease due to the failure to repair/maintain. You can sue for out of pocket damages, if you were forced to temporary housing, or if you fixed it yourself. Unfortunately, you cannot sue to force them to let you renew a lease. Do you have any other questions? thanks

Customer

We have no late payments of rent from when we had the lease. Once the lease was up in Dec. 2019 then we stopped paying rent but he's wanting me to pay from Dec. 2019 to March 2020. My landlord stated that for me not paying he had to pay himself I don't fully understand that.

tleeders, Expert

Yes, the lease turns over to a month to month, with the same terms as your lease. You are liable on a month to month basis (need to provide 30 days notice of non-renewal) until you vacate. your landlord probably owes a mortgage and had to pay it out of pocket, I assume that is what he refers to. Thanks. Please click accept to rate my answer and close question, thanks!

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tleeders

4638 Satisfied customers

10+ years of experience

tleeders

10+ years of experience

4638 Satisfied customers

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