Hil, see tag line...

Laura, I'm very glad your nephew is doing better. What a relief!

bonny, I'm going to say this because I know you would do the same for any of us, but you may have too deep of an emotional investment. The time for sending letters to your landlord has long passed. He's shown time and time again he's not willing to make the necessary and proper repairs. The housing authority should now be involved. Your relocation expenses could be covered, and you could receive other remuneration for the times you can show it wasn't livable. You cannot fix this on your own anymore and it's futile to continue trying. Life is too short to put yourself though this bullshit.

I second that, Maria.

Moving is always awful and stressful, and bonny has a wonderful and conveniently located place. It sucks to have to have to bring on the authorities when it really would have been so much easier for all parties if the landlord had just done what he was supposed to do. Good grief, it is not only to provide a safe environment for the tenant, but to protect his investment. Decent maintenance and prevention is a whole lot less expensive than a roof collapsing.

I hope that an ideal housing option presents itself, and quickly.

Nephew reports very good. After a week his numbers are near normal. Now rehab to regain his strength. It has been a huge help that he was in such good shape to begin with. Other than his back aches (likely caused from lifting and doing stuff he shouldn't), he is super healthy. Good weight and does physical work. His wife is ms organic earth mom with growing and canning/freezing their food. Most of the meat/eggs/poultry they consume comes from hunting or from the family ranch next door. So generally really healthy living. It would not have been so good an outcome if he hadn't been so strong. Bodies, they be fragile.

That's great news, Laura. I hope your nephew's rehab goes smoothly.

Nephew reports very good.

That is so wonderful to hear!!

Yep, Laura has the right of it.

Simply maintaining what is an incredibly valuable resource, given the trajectory of the neighborhood's fortunes would just have been common sense.

That sense is not present in that particular human.

bonny! My sister in winter landlord . . . well "shenanigans" is too light a word.

I'm not sure the dcra will condemn the building because, honestly, in terms of slums, it could be much worse. Uncomfortable doesn't equal inhabitable.

The entire building doesn't have to be condemned for you to get out of this, and not even your apartment. DC is a very tenant-friendly place to rent. The warranty of habitability is a legal term of art, and the clinic will be able to explain how it applies to your situation.

Please read DC's Tenant Survival Guide, Section 3 "Repairs". [link]

From the intro:

District of Columbia laws require your landlord to provide

apartments that are in a safe, habitable and livable

condition. The landlord has a duty to make all repairs

necessary to make buildings and apartments habitable.

D.C. law also requires landlords to maintain buildings

and apartments according to many established standards,

including the Housing Code Standards listed below. The

Housing Regulation and Enforcement Division of the Housing Regulation Administration, a part of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) is responsible for administering the D.C. Housing Code and related regulations.

For more information on the D.C. Housing Code, refer to >Title 14 of the D.C. Municipal Regulations. You can request

a copy of the D.C. Housing Code by contacting the Housing Inspection Section of the Housing Regulation Administration at DCRA at (202) 442-4400.

edited for wonky formatting.

IANAL, but pouring water from the ceiling onto your bed and other possessions and the water heater and the wiring does not seem to me to fall under the category of "habitable".