Question About Rental Agreement

[Amy B.]

I rented a house from a gentleman in March of 2011. This particular landlord made some improvements to the house to fit my needs. For instance, he pulled the carpet and stained the concrete floors. He also fixed part of the privacy fence. When I moved in, I paid a $1500 pet deposit and an $1100 security deposit. My rent is $1070/month, which I believe is market rent for my area. After I moved I lost my job and was several days late with the rent several times. He renegotiated the due date for the rent. I have not been late since. When I moved, the Landlord promised to fix certain things. For instance, there is an odd size blind in my kitchen that does not close properly and therefore offers no privacy. There was only one shower door in one of the bathrooms, which means that half the shower is not covered. I had asked about the door several times and was advised that the shower door and blind were on order. There were some other things that were fixed, several months after I moved. When the first summer came, I noticed that some of the doors were sticking despite the fact that I watered the foundation. Then I noticed cracks in the walls that had been painted over. Then there were more cracks in the walls. Cracks began to form on the floors. Half of the kitchen floor is now about an inch above the other half. When I am in the kitchen, I have to be very careful not to trip on the crack. In addition, two closet doors have fallen, the security alarm goes off in the middle of the night, the pantry doors will not open or close and there is only one door in the entire house that will lock. The back gate will not close and therefore leaves the yard open to the back alley. The wall has shifted and the dishwasher will not open or close. The toilets have backed up twice spewing sewage on the floor. Now last week, the kitchen faucet stopped working. Since I have not had use of the dishwasher for the last six months, I now have no where to wash dishes but in the bathroom sink. Since I am somewhat of a germ freak, this is driving me to drink. Last week when the sink stopped I called the Landlord and he told me that I would have to wait until this Saturday. He has been advised and sent pictures at every phase of the foundation issue. He first promised to fix the foundation this past spring, then it was the summer. Now I don't know. I really like my Landlord. He has really helped me. However, I'm not sure how many more concessions I can make, while still paying market rent. I signed a three year lease and don't have $3,000 to buy out the lease. I have a feeling he does not have the resources to fix the foundation. So my question is, does anyone have a suggestion on how I should deal with this situation?