LoadWB's Journal: I am fighting my landlord

Since we moved in, our landlord has been abusive to us and has refused to perform maintenance. In particular, we went without A/C for a month during a time when the average outside temperature was in the 90's daily.

Granted, she is not required to provide air conditioning, but as the Dept of Ag and Consumer Services pointed out, the fact that the lease was signed with the understanding that the house had working air conditioning at the very least constitutes breach of contract and devaluation of the property.

Without getting too deep into the specifics (as this WILL be going to trial,) about a week ago I turned on the A/C because is was hot and muggy, and lo it failed to work again. So, we sent her a seven day notice that if she did not perform a list of maintenance we provided that we would withhold rent and file with the county court.

She responded by sending us a 30 day notice to vacate, and apparently retained a lawyer to intimidate us to honor the very same.

Regardless, next Tuesday I go to the Leon County Circuit Court office and file against her for material violations of Florida Statute 83.51(1) as provided for by F.S. 83.60, and additionally for retaliatory actions as expressly prohibited by F.S. 83.64. There is a large section of F.S. 83 which deals with landlord-tenant disputes.

I will be calling around today and Monday to try to get our own legal advice, but from my discussions with DoACS and my understanding of the relevant statutes, we have a strong case.

I am putting this up as not only a small outlet for frustration, but I also found that people actually read my journal, so at the same time I am hoping someone else has experience in this arena.