Question about crazy ass landlord

[pesterm.livejournal.com]

If our house is falling down, as in has squirrels in the walls that have eaten the entire outside wall of one bedroom and shingles and left giant gaping holes AND our toilet is leaking ont our poor downstairs neighbors, please can we do anything like withhold rent or make them pay the heat at least?  
yay renting!!

Comments

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

I'd think your poor downstairs neighbors who would want to withhold rent. If the house is uninhabitable, then you mighthave a case. But if the outside is simply unkept instead of broken (i.e. can you see outside a wall without a window?) unsure what you can do.

But I doubt you can make the landlords pay the heat if the walls simply aren't doing well at insulating the house.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Call the housing department. They can (and likely will) force the landlord to fix stuff.

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

I think we might be your downstairs neighbors. We don't know what's leaking from the ceiling, but it looks like our ceiling will crash in any minute.

[samus-aran.livejournal.com]

D: that's really not ok...

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

You will probably find this to be helpful: http://www.gis.net/~groucho/tenant.html

It is specifically for Massachusetts.

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

Do you live on Jay Street, by any chance?

[marphod.livejournal.com]

You cannot, legally, just stop paying rent. You can, however, put rent into an escrow account, pending the repairs. Make sure you have a dated physical letter stating your intention to place rent into escrow, and why.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

You should excercise free will and move. The landlord is unlikely to get any better while you are living tehre, you should find a better living situation and move on, rather than entering into a conflict situation.

Squirrels in the walls and a leaky toilet are things I've encountered as a landlord and they are things I've gotten fixed within 0-48 hours, because they are time sensitive.

[read-w.livejournal.com]

Or exercise free will and hold your landlord accountable, perhaps improving the situation not only for yourself but also for other and future tenants. Call the Somerville housing office http://www.somervillema.gov/departments/ospcd/housing/tenants