A landlord that steals from us, threatens fees, does not fix anything?

Asked: A landlord that steals from us, threatens fees, does not fix anything?

We started renting a house in October 2011. Huge house for cheap, was hard to pass up with a big family.
Our landlord began stealing from us. Two days before we actually moved in (after we signed the lease and gave him money) he came in and stole my paint. I searched everywhere for it before I asked him about it. He admitted to taking it to paint an area in his kitchen. We told him to return it, which he did a week later but he had mixed white with it and I had to buy a new can.
He's taken planters that I had outside, screens and some fencing material that I bought.
During the winter the (finished) basement flooded due to a crack in the foundation, we had about 4 inches of water and he would not help. Things began to mold, including the dry wall. We keep calling him, telling him about the issue and he says he is too busy or has some other excuse.
The upstairs bathroom has no fans and molds no matter what we do and I am constantly scrubbing the walls, using portable fans and keep the window open. It's not good for the kids.
He told us that we could get a family dog, pets are allowed on the lease so no problem as long as we paid the rent on time. After months of searching, we found one and brought him home. The dog is not allowed to come in the house at all even though our other can, we had to pay a deposit on him to let him sleep in the garage (which we never had to pay one for our other dog or cats) and if he ever finds out that the dog is in the house, he told us that he would fine us $200 each time.
We can't afford to move and I have not documented anything, everything between us has been verbal only.
Is there anything that we can do?

Answers:

Be The First To Answer This Question…

Got a better answer? Share it below!

Related posts:

  1. What can I do to fix this lease property/landlord issue?
  2. Can a landlord fine you? Pet issues – Please help NJ?
  3. If im renting month to month bases and when i first moved in there was a fence?
  4. My landlord threatened to call the "humane society" about my dogs. I can’t stop crying, i am so upse
  5. House contract does not mention pets. Can I keep a dog?
The very best blog authors Love a free plugin for wordpress.