Landlord terminated lease after a request for mold inspection

[Chopps1994]

I live in Montana in a house where I am not on the lease. However, I have been writing checks for rent (that i split with my roommate who is on the lease) so my landlord does know I am a resident here.
We were alerted by a neighbor who did a mold inspection on our house 2 years ago that we were told came back negative, but after talking to him he confirmed our has was and has been infested with black mold. We sent a letter to our landlord requesting an inspection and in return received a termination of our lease (which is month to month). However there was never an inspection done and within those thirty days the roof started to leak, there was dangerous ice building up on the roof above our entry and the mold worsened.
I sent him a letter stating that he is violating the law which entitles us to the right to safe housing and that his termination is an illegal retaliation termination. He is refusing to talk to me and my roommate has found another place to live and is refusing to talk with him (even though she is the only one he will talk to as she is on the lease). In my letter I stated that all tenants are planning on moving out may 1st (30 days after his proposed move out/termination date) and requested to talk to him. He ignored all emails and letters sent and threw me out of his store when I politely went in to try to address the issue.

My question is (since I have nowhere to go for the next month before my new lease starts May 1st) what are the repercussion if I simply stay and do not pay rent?

 

[LdiJ]

I live in Montana in a house where I am not on the lease. However, I have been writing checks for rent (that i split with my roommate who is on the lease) so my landlord does know I am a resident here.
We were alerted by a neighbor who did a mold inspection on our house 2 years ago that we were told came back negative, but after talking to him he confirmed our has was and has been infested with black mold. We sent a letter to our landlord requesting an inspection and in return received a termination of our lease (which is month to month). However there was never an inspection done and within those thirty days the roof started to leak, there was dangerous ice building up on the roof above our entry and the mold worsened.
I sent him a letter stating that he is violating the law which entitles us to the right to safe housing and that his termination is an illegal retaliation termination. He is refusing to talk to me and my roommate has found another place to live and is refusing to talk with him (even though she is the only one he will talk to as she is on the lease). In my letter I stated that all tenants are planning on moving out may 1st (30 days after his proposed move out/termination date) and requested to talk to him. He ignored all emails and letters sent and threw me out of his store when I politely went in to try to address the issue.

My question is (since I have nowhere to go for the next month before my new lease starts May 1st) what are the repercussion if I simply stay and do not pay rent?

You could be evicted in court and tossed out by the police with all of your belongings put to the curb. It might not happen within that month but its a huge risk to take. It would be far safer to put your belongings in storage and find someone to stay with for those 30 days.

 

[FarmerJ]

So you understand , many LLs do pay screening firms to discover and in a report tell them if a prospective tenant has been taken to court by a landlord in the past. This is enough reason for many LLs to refuse to rent to someone since a new LL may figure that if a LL in the past had to take someone to court for refusing to leave after being given proper notice to get out or for non pay or when the tenant is the one who overstays own notice to LL to move out OR lastly when a tenant damages a place to the point the LL sues for the damage so the prospective LLs often feel like if one LL went thru it they don't want to chance that history will repeat it self and decline the application , this sort of thing may not happen right away but it could come up for a applicant tenant some time in the future when they are looking to rent a new place. Store your things somewhere and stay with friends or family for a short time till you can move into new place.

 

[adjusterjack]

My question is (since I have nowhere to go for the next month before my new lease starts May 1st) what are the repercussion if I simply stay and do not pay rent?

I think you would be wise to send him another letter saying that you are staying for April and enclose a check for April's rent in full.

Send it tomorrow by overnight mail so he gets it Friday. Keep a copy of the letter and the check. If you don't get a response or any other notice, keep checking your checking account to see if the check clears. If the check clears you have another month before you have to move and you avoid getting an eviction on your record.

 

[reenzz]

Unless you reported the landlord to a goverment agency, you have zero cause to claim "retaliation".