Right to withhold rent?

[lazaro94]

I live in Nevada I just moved into a house a month ago, when I moved in I thought I was going through a property management company come to find out the person that did my lease actually was going to move into this house she decided not to she gave a deposit and the landlord could not return it to her so he told her to rent the house out and she could keep my deposit as the landlord could not refund her. We were here one week and the ceiling in the kitchen started to leak the house is two story with a bathroom above the kitchen, the landlord came out and said the leak was due to my shower curtin not retaining water properly his fix was silicone in the bathroom, the ceiling in the kitchen appears to have been repaired previously I asked the landlord if there was a problem with the ceiling prior to moving in I was assured there was not now the leak is worse it kind of looks like an air bubble in the ceilling in the kitchen and water is dripping non stop from there I have a bucket in front of the fridge to catch it.We stopped using that bathroom but the problem has not got any better its getting worse.. now the leak is spreading to four different areas in the kitchen ceiling there is water in the light fixture in the kitchen I cant even turn on the kitchen light as I am afraid its an electrical hazard. the landlord came out once after the silicone to look at the damage and was going to come back out to fix it but never did now he is ignoring my calls. I am sure he will call around the first can I withhold rent from him? there is also a problem with an upstairs bedroom the wall is wet and the carpet near that wall so im not sure if a pipe in the wall is leaking... I am also concerned about mold..What can I do to fix this situation I have three kids and dont want them livning in these conditions and I am very upset as the landlord was aware of this problem prior to us moving in..the water dripping from the ceiling is brown and smells!!

[voliny13]

You didn't ask a question but you can't withhold the rent.

[artek57]

talk to someone from your local fire dept. and tell them everything. They will come out look at it and tell you what to and tell the landlord what he needs to do or he will most likely have his propert condemned til everything is fix.

[ezri]

talk to someone from your local fire dept. and tell them everything. They will come out look at it and tell you what to and tell the landlord what he needs to do or he will most likely have his propert condemned til everything is fix.

You can only legally withhold rent 14 days after you have you have given your landlord written notice naming all the failures to maintain the property. If your landlord within 14 days does remedy the situation or makes a good effort at repair, then you can not legally withhold rent.

Below are links to landlord tenant rights and responsibilities in Nevada. And a link to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This department is the proper place to take complaints about landlords and property.

[brenn15]

You clearly have a habitability issue and should contact the local health department. As for withholding rent, most states allow this as long as the guidelines are followed. Some states will allow the tenant to have repairs made, with certification from the appropriate county/state agency/department and then deduct the amount from the rent.