Habitability Violations And Hostile Landlord

Hi folks. Bit of a long post, thanks for reading. Will explain as briefly as possible:

Location: Reno, NV

I’ve been renting the same house for the past 12 years, and have stayed because strangely in all of these years my landlord has never raised the rent.

Unfortunately the house has major issues, very serious water intrusion (jack, 2x4, and plywood holding up collapsing ceiling), laundry room ceiling tiles have all come down, very high humidity (6-70% in the desert!), leaking pipes in the boiler room, rotting wood, a swamp cooler he provided that he’s never maintained in 12 years , rodents downstairs in basement, gutters full of debris hanging off outside of house, and beyond. I often pay for repairs and upkeep things he won’t.

I had no idea I had rights regarding any of this, bought mouse traps when he said “you have rodents, deal with it!”, have paid to maintain the swamp cooler, pay for plumbers to unclog his root damaged pipes, and beyond.

Well, without going on and on about the house conditions, I started getting sick about 5 years ago. “Allergies”, dependence on antihistamines, hormonal issues, all of which continued getting worse until I found out a couple months ago I have a brain tumor, adrenal insufficiency, a malfunctioning gallbladder, horrible insomnia, the list goes on.

My doctors at Stanford and UCLA who have been treating me suggested I look at my environment after I continued to worsen health wise despite treatment, and have been getting nonstop reoccurring infections (oral thrush, strep throat, colitis, etc since turning on the swamp cooler in June. I am immunosuppressed and they were worried about the fungal infections occurring, without explanation.

Well- we had an industrial hygienist come in and there are some very serious microbial growth issues (black mold , three of the worst types that exist) also an insane amount of aspergillis, exposed asbestos, lead, and more. My doctors ordered me out of the house and I am living in a camper in the back yard.

I am still paying this guy rent. I’ve called the city and code enforcement and they basically said I had to serve him paperwork demanding he fix the issues, he has 14 days to do so. However, the code enforcement officer said I should just go, as these slumlords can dodge having code enforcement come in by merely showing they’ve hired a contractor to look at the issue. CE officer said they’re understaffed and getting into the house even if he doesn’t act, will take time. He told me they don’t even have mold testing equipment. In his report, completely ignored the serious structural problems and water intrusion. This city allows slumlords to run rampant.

Further, the landlord has been sued and settled with a previous tenant for habitability problems and personal injury around 15 years ago. He is hostile and I am too scared to serve him any paperwork. Currently packing up house, but have been told by our local legal aid I have no ground to stand on for a future suit if I don’t report him to the city and serve the paperwork. So, I either walk away and he isn’t held accountable and this happens to the next renter, or I try and go after him once I’m safely out of the house and away from him. I am unsure of what to do.

I know that mold litigation is often next to impossible, but I am considering something like going after him for rent abatement for all of the years the house has been uninhabitable. I have years of text messages “hey, the ceiling is caving in, we tried to fix it; hey, cable guy was here, there is so much water damage” all of which he ignored. He has been absolutely in breach of contract of his own lease which claims he’s legally required to maintain a habitable dwelling per state laws, which he clearly has not.

If there’s someone out there that can provide insight about next steps and what I should do, please help. Have called many attorneys and as soon as they hear the word “mold” it’s a no, and the ones who do take on mold cases either don’t return calls, or they are at capacity. I have no guidance other than our local legal aid, which merely told me, file the paperwork if you want a leg to stand on, or keep paying rent and leave as lease demands. ????????????

Sorry this is so long, if you made it this far, I appreciate your help!!!