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Who, other than landlord tenant resources or a city building inspector, ensures rentals are not hazardous in Wisconsin?

My daughter lives in a rental house in LaCrosse County, but not LaCrosse city.  During the last heavy rain, part of the ceiling collapsed.  The landlord is not cooperating at all to ensure the mold that is in all the rotted wood isn't harming her health more than it already has.  She has been waiting almost a week for a return phone call from Landlord Tenant Resources.  Planning and zoning in LaCrosse said they only inspect new buildings, and only within the city, not the county.  She hired an individual inspector and paid for the inspection herself.  He said the house should be condemned.  The landlord says my daughter is free to move, but will forfeit her $1000 deposit, besides which she cannot afford all the expenses that go along with moving.  Surely there is someone who looks out for tenants, and keeps landlords from being slumlords?  My daughter already has a terrible upper respiratory infection from this, and is getting worse.  What can she do?  Who should she contact?  She also cannot afford to stay in a hotel until the landlord gets around to fixing this, and then suing him for reimbursement.  Thanks.

4 Answers

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  • 1 year ago

    Lawyers & the court system does. Since the house is unsafe, she needs to move out. When the landlord tries to illegally withhold her deposit then she needs to sue him.

  • 1 year ago

    I have never heard of Landlord Tenant Resources but she should be contacting code enforcement in LaCrosse County and give them a copy of the inspector's report.  If the ceiling has collapsed she should vacate and sue the landlord later.

  • Anonymous
    1 year ago

    if she hired an inspector and he gave her official paper the house should be condemned she should move out now and sue the landlord for deposit and also inspector\s fee and all doctor's visits if she had to have some due to the mould

  • Anonymous
    1 year ago

    In rural and some suburban areas, you are SOL. Landlords know this. You should too. 35 years ago, when I was 20, my apartment had rats bad. I was killing 2-3 per day. I was stuffing steel wool into the cracks and patching them. I've been a painter all my life. I spent about $30 materials and the problem was only partially resolved. I had another $20-30 in poison and traps. I wanted that back too. Never got it. Never got rid of rats. The lease was his protection, not mine.

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