On Friday, December 4th the roof started leaking while it was raining outside. I called you the next day on Saturday December 5th to make you aware of the issue and then on Sunday December 6th you came over and looked at the ceiling and roof and said you would get it fixed. You looked up in the attic and said you saw daylight coming though and that it was coming from the metal chimney that was attached to the roof and the cover was missing on it. So there is a big, open hole at the top of my roof. In the mean time the ceiling inside the house has gotten all wet and the wet spots have turned to mold and have grown. There are also water spots where water has dripped down the hallway wall and it has rained again. Now I understand why I have smelled mold for the past 6 months because it is all up in the throughout the kitchen and hallway. Speaking of mold, there is mold growing in all of the window sills throughout the house as well. Last week when it was cold outside at night I woke up the next morning and found water/dew inside the house on all of the windows. It was literally dripping water on the inside part of all of the windows and the window sills. I did not have the heat or air on in the house either. The spin cycle on the washing machine is not working and it is leaving all of my clothes soaking wet. The refrigerator is freezing all of my food and ruining it and I have it on the least cold setting possible and the freezer is leaking into the refrigerator and also causing mold, mildew, and rust. Finally, every time the air does come on I can smell mildew coming from the vents.
The last few months I have had to take my dog Blue to the vet for what I thought was just an issue he was having but I am coming to the conclusion it is this house that is making him ill. I have spent a few hundred dollars to put him on antibiotics for a skin rash he keeps getting and it just seems to keep coming back and I even shaved him because of it. Living in a house of mold is a health issue and I would hate to have to get the Health Department involved. I have put a lot of time and money into this house and I thought you were grateful to have me as a tenant, but I have become a very disappointed tenant. I have documented everything that has gone wrong and taken pictures and I really did not think it was going to have to come down to this. If you want to keep good tenants you have to keep up with the work of the house, and it is not my job to fix anything here and I have gotten to the point to where I don’t even want to talk you anymore about what is going on because you make it sound like it is my fault, or that you are going to fix it and fix it right and you don’t, or that I should fix it myself. By the Florida Statue of Law you have to abide by the following law of the 2009 Florida Statutes and if I have to find a new place to live before my lease ends February 28th you are required to give me back my security deposit:
Title VI CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
Chapter 83 LANDLORD AND TENANT
83.201 Notice to landlord of failure to maintain or repair, rendering premises wholly untenantable; right to withhold rent.--When the lease is silent on the procedure to be followed to effect repair or maintenance and the payment of rent relating thereto, yet affirmatively and expressly places the obligation for same upon the landlord, and the landlord has failed or refused to do so, rendering the leased premises wholly untenantable, the tenant may withhold rent after notice to the landlord. The tenant shall serve the landlord, in the manner prescribed by s. 83.20(3), with a written notice declaring the premises to be wholly untenantable, giving the landlord at least 20 days to make the specifically described repair or maintenance, and stating that the tenant will withhold the rent for the next rental period and thereafter until the repair or maintenance has been performed. The lease may provide for a longer period of time for repair or maintenance. Once the landlord has completed the repair or maintenance, the tenant shall pay the landlord the amounts of rent withheld. If the landlord does not complete the repair or maintenance in the allotted time, the parties may extend the time by written agreement or the tenant may abandon the premises, retain the amounts of rent withheld, terminate the lease, and avoid any liability for future rent or charges under the lease. This section is cumulative to other existing remedies, and this section does not prevent any tenant from exercising his or her other remedies.
History.--s. 2, ch. 93-70; s. 438, ch. 95-147.
Sincerely,
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