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I am renting a house which has been empty for over a year and was recently "redone". I have been here for about 4 months. When we moved in, we had no carpet. The landlord said if we put our own carpet in that he would take money off the rent. So we did. He bought it and my husband and his dad installed it. That's fine. Well, ever since then we have had nothing but problems with our place. First, we heard from 3 neighbors that they reason this house went bad is because the lady that lived here had black mold in it. And she moved out. We were not told any of this and they told us that they basically just did cosmetic repairs. So I'm wondering about the black mold issue because I know that it's hard to get rid of. Then, we had to put up all our own light switch covers, caulk the tub, put the attic door on, put all our own doors on (including the closets), and get our own locks and stuff for the shed and garage. And I had told the landlord and the maintenance people about the problems and they just kept saying they'd be here and they never show up. So I got sick of dealing with it and did the small things. But now we have a big issue. When we empty the bathtub, flush the toliet too many times in a row or run a big flow of water down the kitchen sink, our basement floods. The first time was at night. It was almost an entire basment full in fact, I had to move everything to one little corner in a pile. I called the lendlord the very next day. I left 2 messages. They didnt come until 3 days later. I had called every day after the first day. They came on a friday and did some things and it didnt work. Which is fine. They said they would be in contact over the weekend to get more help. They didnt call until the following Wednesday. They came back later that night and said they cant figure it out. And they'd be back in contact with us and thats been over a week. The smell in my basement and house is unreal. It is moldy and musty, and some sewer smell. I have 2 small children plus I have asthma. What do I do?

The black mold thing could just be a rumor, but who knows.  The landlord may have bleached the house down and now you can't tell.  The first thing you said about there being no carpets really puts up a red flag for me, cause why did they rip it up before you moved in??? (water damage & mold)If there was mold, you may not see it because it could be under the tiles in your bathroom, or in the walls in the basement, or under the carpet, but you WOULD smell it.  It normally grows in bathrooms and basements.  It's a murky, musty smell that does not go away no matter how much cleaning you do, no matter how many candles you light or how many cans of Febreze you spray.The basement thing is a HUGE issue.  You need to start either recording your conversations with your landlord, or start writing letters when things need repairs, and pay for delivery confirmation so you can know it was delivered to the landlord.  Tell the landlord you will NOT tolerate their tardiness in dealing with major issues.  You should write them another letter, record the phone conversation, and if they don't resolve it then contact the police and find out what governmental department handles housing issues and rental/landlord issues.  Get out a notebook and label it My Apartment.  Everytime you call, write down the # you called, what time, how long th call was, who you spoke to, what they said, estimated time of issue getting fixed, etc.  Documentation is key.You MUST start taking pictures ASAP of the damages and the flooding, the water dripping down the toilet.  Get a video camera and record yourself walking through the house when it floods so you can show it live.  I was thinking you could also have a mold/contractor come in and give a free estimate.  If they detect something, they will write it in the estimate, then you use this as proof that there is a problem.  You don't have to pay for it, just give it to the landlord, and keep a copy for yourself in case you need to sue for illegal and unlivable living situations.Do NOT let them do this to you.  Take action, TOMORROW!!!!!  I had a landlord like this, thank god we didn't have major issues but I was pregnant at the time and they took like a month to repair the railing going up their steep stairs.  I almost fell down one day when it was raining and the stairs got slippery.  I flipped out.  Also, they took forever to get us a new refridgerator.  But I started doing things in writing and he magically started being more professional when it came to repairs.  I bet if you were late with your rent, the landlord would be the first to take you to court, so after you have a few letters as proof that you notified landlord of the problem, a dated estimate, and plenty of pictures you should consider landlord/tenant court an option.  Just contact the police, or municipal department and find out exactly who to contact.  They will refer you to the right place.Please promise me you will take action tomorrow, and get nasty if you have to, because your kids and your health is at rist, most importantly, and nothing is more important than that.And FYI tune into The Peoples Court, it comes on around 12pm everyday.  They show alot of similar cases and you can learn alot.  YES these are real cases and real people.  Good luck!!!!!