Moving to a Safe Environment

My name is Emily, most of y'all know me as Ose. I live with my roommate who is my kid's father and our kid. I have asked for help before and you all have come through. I am asking for help again to move to a safer environment.

We have lived in this mobile home since 2021. We moved into after living in a hotel for two years. It was the only option we had and we took it as finding a place with the pandemic happening was difficult. The rent was $600 per month and at the time my roommate was the only one working. We needed to get out of the hotel as it was double that per month and living in a hotel room with three people was a lot to handle. We both have work-from-home jobs now and can pay our bills. Some of you know I have struggled with having a job because of my c-PTSD but I have been able to hold my job for almost a year now and I am doing well.

For almost the whole time we've been living here, we've been asking the landlord to make repairs. The walls have water damage on them from the windows not being sealed correctly. Mold started growing on the walls where the water damage was so I covered it up with duct tape thinking that the landlord was going to have someone come to replace the paneling. He did not. The floors started to dip and we asked him to come look at them and get someone out to make repairs. He did not. They have gotten significantly worse in the time since we started asking for repairs up until now. The refrigerator that he put in here was old and did not keep a cool temperature and we were constantly having food spoil so my roommate saved up points he got for commission from his old job and got a new fridge with them. The window ac units that he had put in here did not cool so we had to use our own money to replace them. I don't know if y'all know how hot it can get in a mobile home but it was terrible. We went the first summer with basically no ac. The water heater was replaced when we first moved in with a new one but I don't know what is going on with it but it constantly leaks. The landlord does have that repaired but that's the only repair that gets done at least by the next day if at all.

We got so frustrated because the landlord would say that he was sending someone out to look at the damages and then nothing would happen. This has been happening for almost two years. At the end of April, my roommate called him and told him that he was not going to pay rent until the repairs were made. We had been looking up tenant rights and laws and that was an option in our state. He did not like that but begrudgingly sent a guy out to start on my bedroom floor. The guy was supposed to come on a Friday and he never showed up. When we called the landlord, the landlord said he didn't know why he didn't show up and gave us the guy's number. The guy said he would be out on Monday as he was busy with another job so we said okay. He showed up on Monday and brought another guy with him and they started on my room. Keep in mind that I work overnights and I was having to sleep on the couch while this was happening.

The guys pulled up the floor and there was mold underneath. They replaced the wood that was damaged and warped in some areas and then left for the day because they said they would need to get enough slats for the whole room since they couldn't use the old ones with the mold, which was fine. On the second day, Tuesday, they came out and said they couldn't do anything because they needed to find new slats since the place was sold out of the ones we used to have. I wasn't too happy with that because it seemed like they were dragging the job out. Wednesday came around and they came back and worked on half of the floor. I let them know that there were still some parts of the floor that dipped. They left for the day and then the next day, Thursday, they didn't show up at all. My roommate called the guy and the guy didn't answer. He called the landlord and the landlord didn't know what was happening. The guy eventually called my roommate and told him to lose his number because he was not going to finish the job. My roommate called the landlord and told him what the guy said and also told the landlord that he needed the job done today and he didn't want to have to take legal action. The landlord said for him to go ahead and take legal action as if he knew nothing would come of it. While we were waiting, my roommate went back there to clean the filter in the ac unit and his foot did go through one of the weak spots so he called the landlord and told him. The landlord eventually got a guy who lives here to come fix the other half of the floor in my bedroom and they did such a shoddy job, most of the slats aren't even put down properly and there are still dips in the floor. Keep in mind that the living room was never even touched and the floor in the living room is worse. The next day the landlord called about getting rent. The guy who was fixing the floor before he quit kept making comments about my car and how nice it was and that gave me a really bad feeling like he might try to steal my car. I don't know this guy and after what he pulled with just leaving the floor half-done, I don't know.

We are literally at our wit's end. We feel unsafe walking on these floors and with the mold on the water-damaged walls. The landlord does not make the effort to do his job as a landlord and make necessary repairs. I called the county and was told because we have a verbal lease that the judge would most likely side with the landlord. It's so frustrating knowing that there is nothing we can do except move. I imagine that everyone who lives in his mobile homes have verbal leases and I feel like that's on purpose.

We are a two-income household so we can afford an apartment. We are going to look at apartments this weekend. We just need some help with moving expenses so we can get into a safer place. I've made a list of the expenses that we will need help with. I know we can pay the first month's rent on our own. We are planning on selling the fridge that we own and the window ac units we also own to help with expenses if we can.

Moving Expenses Help:

I will update this fundraiser with the exact amount but the amount right now is just an estimate. Thank you so much for reading. I know it was a lot, but if you could share and help if you can. I just want to be able to live in a safe environment again.