renting in nj, sewage backup

[kungfuchik]

I am currently renting in nj. for the past month the smell of human feces has been in the hallway. i called the management company to complain, they told me they are working on the problem. i then spoke to one of the maintenance guys who said this has been going on for 2 months. the 1st floor now has about 12 inches of human excrement on the floor, the tenants that live next to this room have it seeping through their walls. thier bathroom floor was coming up by about a foot and the management company replaced thier foundation, but only 2 weeks later, the foundation is cracking and raising up again. i found out that the management knew about this problem since last year, and that for the past 2 months, maintenance has had to come in and snake out the sewage lines under the bldg in the am and in the pm. in the mean time, they bought fans to put in the windows so that the smell does not come into the bldg, now i cant open my windows because the smell comes in from the outside!! i then found out that the sewage pipes are not backed up, but actually broken under the bldg, and the management company refuses to have this fixed. so, i called my local board of health. no one ever called me back, so i went over to the board of health office 2 weeks later, and they said they called the manager and that the problem was being resolved. i told them we are still living like this, and they have not done anything, and the amount of waste is building up in the basement....what else can i do? where else can i go for help?

[grasmicc]

Just stop paying rent and move. In that order. That's the easiest solution.

Write the management company a letter saying they have violated warrant of habitability, you've contacted them several times about it to no resolve, you've contacted department of health, and you know the problem has been ongoing for two years.

It's that simple. You might need to sue them in small claims court to get your security deposit back after this occurrs.

[elklaw]

I suggest documenting the problem, asking the landlord to let you out of the lease and there be a mutual release documented in writing, meaning you will be let out of your lease and they will not sue you forbreaking the lease and you will agree to not sue you. This may be the way to have a clean break. You should also consult an attorney who may be able to help and provide ideas and maybe facilitate the mutual release or general release process.

[kungfuchik]

It has now really gotten bad. My lease ends Oct 31,2005. I have already given them my 30 days notice, so that I wont be breaking my lease. But, I really dont think that I should have paid the last 2 months of rent. I am thankfully, almost fully moved out and in a new place already. We used to have 2 entrances to the building, we now only have one. They have blocked off the stairs and have brought up the entire foundation in the basement. They have found additional problems down there, what they are, I really dont know. All I know is that there is now a 3 foot pile of a mixture of soil and raw sewage in the commonway in the basement. I have so much dust in my apartment, I can barely breath when I am there. I am pretty much throwing everything out except for things that really can not be replaced. Thank heavens I already have most of my furnishings out. They have been drilling for the past week, from 830/900am until about 3p each day. We also have no water during the day as well....I am just really glad that I am out. I was also given the suggestion that I write a letter to be re-imbursed for all of my troubles.....